Workers at the Biddeford Starbucks store won a union election on Thursday, and will now join Workers United.
The workers, who announced their intent to unionize in May at the Alfred Street store, won 9-3 in an election that was overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, according to Ashley Macomber, a shift supervisor, and Starbucks Workers United Maine.
Ballots were mailed out in June, and the votes were tallied Thursday.
The Biddeford store is the first Starbucks in Maine to unionize, joining hundreds of stores across more than 35 states that have unionized since last fall.
Macomber and two other Biddeford workers, Preslee Jennings and Kaylee Makara, told the Bangor Daily News that they were spurred to organize due to staff shortages and inadequate training.
Biddeford workers also held a public rally on July 4 to garner public support for their union effort ahead of Wednesday’s election.
“This is such a big win for not only us but for our partners across the county in their unionization process!” the Biddeford local tweeted Thursday.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when the ballots were distributed. It happened in June.