The New Challenge Chipotle Is Facing
In what marks a first for the company, Chipotle has a big challenge on its hands as its workers at one location attempt to unionize.
This article is more than 2 years old
Chipotle Mexican Grill, the American fast food chain best known for specialized bowls, burritos, tacos, and new meat flavorings that are made to order in front of customers, is once again making the headlines. This time for the decision made by employees at a Chipotle Restaurant located in Lansing, Michigan. The employees there have voted to unionize.
According to CNBC, this would be the first Chipotle location to ever vote to unionize. This came after the Chipotle store workers voted eleven to three in favor of unionizing with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. These votes were tallied on Thursday, which means Chipotle now has five days to file any objections against the voting election. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) regional director will certify the results if Chipotle chooses to not file any objections against the favor to unionize. This would then require the Lansing, Michigan location to begin the bargaining process in good faith with the union.
In a statement to CNBC, Laurie Schalow, a spokesperson on behalf of Chipotle stated, “We’re disappointed that the employees at our Lansing, MI restaurant chose to have a third party speak on their behalf because we continue to believe that working directly together is best for our employees.”
The Lansing, Michigan location is the second-ever Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant to file a petition to unionize with the NLRB out of its 3,000 locations. Back in June of this year, a Chipotle restaurant located in Augusta, Maine was the first of the chain to file for a union election. The employees there sought to organize under Chipotle United, which is not associated with any larger unions. However, their efforts were short-lived. Soon after, Chipotle permanently closed the doors at the Augusta location. The chain stated it was due to the location’s staffing challenges and was not connected to the unionization efforts. Chipotle United later filed a complaint with the NLRB claiming the actions to close the doors at the Augusta, Maine location was done with retaliatory malice.
The motivating factors that led the employees at the Lansing, Michigan Chipolte location to unionize include low wages, too few hours, and a long list of tasks outside of the required role responsibilities. The minimum wage in Michigan is currently $9.87. However, the considered living wage for a single adult with no children in Lansing, MI is $15.65, according to the Living Wage Calculator. Most of the Lansing Chipotle location workers earn an hourly wage of $13.00. Consequently, the workers there are seeking to form a union in order to improve work schedules and increase their hourly wages. Additionally, it’s worth noting that Chipotle has a long history of high-profile labor issues. Back in 2020, Chipotle was fined over $1.4 million with more than 13,000 violations pertaining to Massachusetts child labor laws in the span of years between 2015 and 2019.
In May of this year, the National Labor Relations Board reported that union election petitions were up 57% for figures from just the first half of the 2022 fiscal year. The Food Service Industry and Accommodations accounted for 27.5% of these union election petitions. This is due, largely, to a change that is being driven by all the unionization efforts by Starbucks. The Lansing, Michigan location’s attempt to unionize is the first for the popular Mexican chain and it most likely will not be the last!
