For the first time in Quebec, employees of a Starbucks coffee shop have managed to unionize, the Confederations of National Unions (CSN) announced on Friday.
The Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT) granted its accreditation Thursday to the Catering Employees Union-CSN for the Starbucks on Boulevard Talbot, in Chicoutimi, in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region. Around thirty employees are part of it. They submitted their application for accreditation last July.
However, this is not the first establishment of the popular chain to unionize in Canada.
Caroline Senneville, president of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, speaks of a victory against a “giant”.
“As is too often the case for multi-billion dollar multinationals, anti-union practices are almost part of Starbucks’ brand identity. This company is infamous for its determination to prevent its workers around the world from enforcing their rights and even their freedom of expression! Today’s victory therefore shines well beyond Quebec and Canada,” she commented in a press release.
To watch on video