Union-organizing efforts are underway at several Starbucks stores in metro Atlanta, part of a nascent but growing national campaign.

So far, just one Atlanta store has turned in a petition that could trigger a vote.

Employees at a Starbucks on Howell Mill Road say they have turned in more than the necessary signatures to the National Labor Relations Board. If the NLRB agrees that more than 30% of non-management employees are on board, it will order a vote.

The campaign here was not sparked by miserable work conditions, said Page Smith, a shift supervisor and a member of the group leading the effort at the Howell Mill location. “We love to work at Starbucks, to be partners here, to be part of a community,” said Smith, who started work there in April. “But we feel strongly that we are not held in as much respect as we’d like to be.”

Starting pay differs across the country. At the Howell Mill Starbucks, a new barista typically receives $15 an hour. But it’s not just about hourly wage, since many workers do not get assigned enough hours each week to make a decent living, Smith said. “It’s not particularly consistent and it’s hard to anticipate,” Smith said. “We all have to have roommates.”

A Starbucks spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that whatever the outcome of the campaign in Atlanta, the company wants to avoid conflict. He cited Rossann Williams, a Starbucks executive vice president who recently said that “the vote outcomes will not change our shared purpose...

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