Welcome to First Bite, a Nation’s Restaurant News podcast, your daily source of news from NRN hosted by Holly Petre.
Today, we’re talking about Chipotle’s first unionized store.
Workers at a Lansing, Mich. Chipotle have officially formed the company’s first union.
The workers voted overwhelmingly last Thursday to form a union with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, making it the first of the restaurant chain's 3,000 locations to organize. The unit in Augusta, Maine, where workers attempted to unionize was closed by Chipotle last month.
According to a release, workers are forming the union to improve their work schedules, increase wages, and gain the respect from management that they feel they've rightfully earned. The corporate-owned restaurant did not object to the filing.
The workers join the growing movement of unionization in the country, led by Starbucks with over 200 unionized stores across the U.S. Amazon and Apple have also seen unionization efforts by workers.
Chipotle has four locations in and around Lansing. Local 243, with union halls in Lansing and Plymouth Township, represents more than 4,000 workers across Michigan.
Senior editor Joanna Fantozzi has more on the story.
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