Tucson Standard

Employees a Tucson Starbucks voted to unionize, becoming the fifth Starbucks location in the state and the first in that city to do so.

"It was mainly for solidarity with other partners across the country," an unnamed employee told AzFamily.com. "We were watching things happen like the Memphis Seven — things like hours getting cut and [a] lot of anti-union tactics."

Ultimately, the National Labor Relations Board voted 11 to 3 in favor of unionizing the Starbucks near The University of Arizona, AzFamily.com reported. 

Now that the votes and growing power are in the hands of the workers, labor attorney Thom Cope said it’s time for the two sides to negotiate their options.

"It becomes a bargaining position where you trade off one thing the union really wants for what the employers really wants, and it can be a very lengthy process," Cope told AzFamily.com.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero expressed her support for the new union on Twitter.

"Workers deserve justice, equality, and a better life," she said. "Congratulations to the #Tucson #Starbucks workers at the University and Euclid location for successfully organizing their union."

Ivan Modesto, an employee at that Starbucks location, told AZPM.org that his coworkers approached him about moving forward with plans to unionize after they heard CEO Howard Schultz criticize unionizing at other locations.

"My fellow coworkers came to me and they were like, 'I don't think it's okay; we should get in contact with the union,'" he said. "And I was like, 'I'm already in contact with them.'"

Modesto said all of the workers seemed to feel the same emotions as the events unfolded.

"We were all very nervous," he said. "Then, at a certain point – he hadn't even counted all of the votes – but we got to, I think, eight, and we knew that we'd won at that point. And we just looked at each other with relief."

Modesto said "employees from other locations around Tucson have reached out to him with interest in going through the same process" to unionize, AZPM.org reported.