The unionization effort is heating up again for Chipotle Mexican Grill.
A crew member working at a location in Lawrence, Kans., on Oct. 25 filed a report of unfair labor practices with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging Chipotle management interrogated workers and tried to coerce them not to sign a petition calling for a union vote.
The allegations from Chipotle crew member Quinlan Muller in Kansas are the latest complaints to be filed with the NLRB this year. There are currently 14 open cases filed in 2022 involving Chipotle before the labor relations board, most involving allegations of attempts to thwart union activity.
Nine of the cases have been filed by union organizers in and around New York City, where the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, has been active in attempts to organize there. But other unfair labor practice allegations involve a movement to start a union in Augusta, Maine, where workers petitioned the NLRB to hold an election in July. That unit was later closed permanently due to staffing challenges.
In Kansas, Muller, the crew member, said in an interview with Restaurant Business that she had circulated a petition for a union vote and had gathered about 15 signatures, or about 75% of what was needed. She left the petition at work with a colleague, but later found the petition had been thrown away.
A manager confirmed to Muller that it had been discarded but did not say how. The manager also told her she could not solicit signatures while at work.
Around the same time, a field manager visited the store and spoke to employees, Muller said.
“He asked if I knew what the consequences of unionizing would be,” Muller said. “And he told me and other co-workers things like, you’ll lose your benefits that Chipotle offers. You won’t get tips anymore. You won’t be able to get tuition reimbursement and managers won’t be able to help you on a shift if you need it, things like that.
“That really put some people off,” Muller said. “He even brought up union dues and that they’d take part of our paycheck every month.”
Laurie Schalow, Chipotle’s chief corporate affairs officer, did not respond to specific questions about the incident, but said in a statement, “We respect our employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act and are committed to ensuring a fair, just and humane work environment that provides opportunities for all. We encourage our employees to contact us immediately, including through an anonymous 800 number, with any concerns so we can investigate and respond quickly to make things right.”
Upset that the petition had been thrown away, Muller said she began researching whether any Chipotle stores had a union and learned the first to organize was in Lansing, Mich., earlier this year. Muller reached out to the Emergency Worker Organizing Committee, or EWOC, a grassroots organizing program supported by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, or UE, and the Democratic Socialists of America. EWOC had worked with organizers in Lansing, and helped connect Muller with a local chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Kansas. The Chipotle in Michigan is working with Teamsters local 243.
Since last week, Muller said she has gathered signatures on a second petition for a union vote, but not while at work.
The fundamental issue for her is “the need for legal protection that a union offers service workers, especially those under a big corporation.”
Muller said she has been working for Chipotle at various locations for about four years while she attends college to get a degree in clinical lab science.
She described the first Chipotle unit she worked in as well run. Workers were well trained. There was adequate staffing, and the schedule was even and fair between morning shifts, nights and weekends, she said.
Then she transferred to another location closer to campus and found staffing lacking and people were not adequately trained.
“The job became a lot more difficult and corporate wasn’t doing anything to help us,” she said. “The Chipotle I’m at now, it’s kind of a joke that it’s the worst Chipotle in town.”
Co-workers began to quit, she said, and that made working conditions even worse. Even as Chipotle upped benefits and pay, Muller said workers found those benefits were not equally available.
After Chipotle increased the minimum wage to $13 per hour in the market, another worker was transferred in from a unit that paid less. Muller said the crew asked their field manager several times to at least bring their team member’s pay up to match what everyone else was making.
“Our field leader said it was not within his power,” she said. “So negotiating and bargaining and asking things from Chipotle without a union doesn’t guarantee us anything at all.”
Schalow reiterated Chipotle’s benefits, which include competitive wages, debt-free degrees and tuition reimbursement of up to $5,250 per year, health benefits and quarterly bonuses.
Muller herself is a beneficiary of Chipotle’s tuition support, she said.
“It’s an enticing job for high school and college students,” she said. “But if you’re going to target those demographics, Chipotle should not exploit them, basically. Those are some pretty vulnerable demographics.”
Muller said the growing interest in unions at companies like Amazon and Starbucks indicates a larger movement of workers fighting against mistreatment and seeking more control over their lives.
“I really think Chipotle’s next,” she said.
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