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September 2, 2024 What's Trending

Union activity on the rise in CT

Pixabay A Starbucks cup.
By Greg Bordonaro

Employees at two more Connecticut Starbucks locations recently voted to unionize, as the state overall experiences an uptick in unionization activity.

Baristas at the Starbucks on Litchfield Turnpike in Woodbridge and Dixwell Avenue in Hamden voted to join the Starbucks Workers United union, which said it has now organized more than 10,500 baristas at 480-plus stores nationwide since 2021.

A Starbucks in West Hartford was the first in the state to unionize in 2022. Now, five of the Seattle-based coffee chain’s Connecticut locations are represented by unions.

Baristas say they are seeking better wages, racial and gender equity and fair schedules.

Overall, union activity in Connecticut has been on the rise in recent years. In 2023, 15.9% of employed residents in the state were union members, while 16.9% were represented by unions, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was up from 14.2% and 15.4%, respectively, in 2022.

There were 272,000 Connecticut workers represented by unions in 2023, the highest number since 2020, BLS data shows. Over the last decade, the number of workers represented by unions peaked at 295,000 in 2017.

Nationally, union membership was flat in 2023 at 10%, with 14.4 million workers belonging to a union, according to BLS.

Staff at Hearst Connecticut Media Group, publisher of eight daily and 13 weekly newspapers around the state, recently announced they are working to form a union.

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