San Diego Starbucks worker seeks to disband union – Business News
A San Diego Starbucks supervisor is attempting to boot the union from his store after claiming staff had been shut out of key choices — together with an open-ended Christmas strike leaving staff scrambling for hours.
Joe Emmenegger, 29, a shift supervisor, instructed the California Post that he had gathered signatures from roughly 64% of the roughly 16 to 18 staff at his Starbucks to drive a vote on whether or not to disband the union.
Joe Emmenegger began an effort to disband his union. Center For Union Facts
The shift supervisor, who declined to establish the San Diego-area store, claimed Starbucks Workers United intentionally excluded supervisors equivalent to him from discussions regardless of their being half of the bargaining unit.
“It just didn’t sit well with me, seeing as you know it’s a group that’s positively trying to help and kind of be there for the worker, but at the same time, you’re kind of being excluded and left in the dark,” he stated in an interview.
Emmenegger, a lifelong San Diego-area resident, stated he was initially impartial on unions. He had heard of Starbucks Workers United by means of online posts and videos however had no interplay with the union till he joined the already-unionized store in 2024.
He stated he was by no means formally instructed he was half of the bargaining unit, solely discovering it himself after doing his own analysis. He claimed union discussions remained exclusionary.
“It was brought to my attention that people were told not to talk to myself, other people,” Emmenegger stated.
“I never really understood why there was this kind of exclusion of the supervisor team.”
But Emmenegger stated the tipping level got here during Starbucks Workers United’s nationwide open-ended strike late final yr, when he claimed the choice to stroll out was made with out enter from him or different staff.
“All of our hours evaporated. Being a week-and-half before Christmas, we had co-workers who have families, have young children,” Emmenegger stated.
“It was definitely a very stressful moment to figure out, ‘Okay I may not be having a job.’”
Starbucks Workers United launched its open-ended unfair labor observe strike on Nov. 13, 2025, as half of its long-running battle with the espresso giant over a first national framework for union contracts.
A California Starbucks worker needs to disband the union. Center For Union Facts
Emmenegger confused that he’s not opposed to unions or staff exercising their proper to strike.
“Personally, I think unions can be a lot of good when applied correctly,” he stated. “It’s just when it’s done improperly and the practices are wrong, that’s when I have a problem with it.”
Joe Emmenegger Joe Emmenegger
Shortly after the strike, Emmenegger circulated a petition searching for to take away the union from his store.
He stated he secured signatures from about 64% of the roughly 16 to 18 staff working there on the time.
Starbucks staff putting. Center For Union Facts
The petition is now pending earlier than the National Labor Relations Board, in accordance to Emmenegger.
He stated he has confronted little opposition from his own coworkers however claimed labor activists who joined the strike known as him and others “scabs.”
Emmenegger’s push comes as he joins a new national coalition of restaurant, retail and repair staff launched Monday that claims it’s “dedicated to union transparency and accountability.”
Starbucks staff putting. Center For Union Facts
The initiative is backed by the Center for Union Facts, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that campaigns in opposition to union practices and advocates larger financial transparency and accountability for organized labor.
Seventy-one % of Americans approve of labor unions, in accordance to a Gallup ballot launched Sept. 1 — tying the current high recorded in 2022. Gallup additionally discovered a file 47% of Americans need unions to have more affect.
The Center for Union Facts, nonetheless, cited its own survey that it stated discovered union favorability fell to 61% after respondents got details about corruption scandals involving union officers and different controversies.
“It’s time to set the record straight on labor unions that talk a big game but deliver little for workers. We hope these stories encourage others to speak up about what it’s really like to deal with unions,” Charlyce Bozzello, communications director on the Center for Union Facts, stated to The Post.
The group additionally highlighted accounts from staff in different states who stated that they had skilled issues with their unions.
Starbucks Workers United has in the meantime spent more than two years attempting to secure a contract with Starbucks after national collective bargaining talks started in February 2024.
The union has staged strikes and different protests during the dispute and has more not too long ago urged shoppers to boycott Starbucks because it seeks to strain the company into reaching an settlement.
The Post reached out to Starbucks Workers United for remark.
