New wave of union activity hits our market. Is more coming?

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

Roy Sistovaris began talking with his coworkers about starting a union after seeing it happen at Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York.

Read: Flagler County woman accused of handcuffing daughter to car’s steering wheel

The 22-year-old barista trainer said it started as simple chatter among employees at the Starbucks at 305 E. Mitchell Hammock Road in Oviedo, after the Buffalo stores unionized in December 2021. The impetus for Sistovaris and his colleagues: being short staffed while facing a big workload from a high volume of customers, among other factors, he said.

Read: 3 hurt including 2 firefighters after serious crash involving fire truck in Brevard County

“It was just talk for a while, but people expressed concerns about workplace issues like understaffing and pay. Pay is important in Orlando right now because of how crazy rent is. People are picking up second and third jobs just to pay the rent.”

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.

Starbucks considering closing its bathrooms again to non-customers According to news outlets, Starbucks' interim chief executive Howard Shultz said that mental health problems, in part, pose a threat to staff and customers. (NCD)

©2022 Cox Media Group