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Michigan Chipotle workers join union

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August 29, 2022

Workers at aChipotle Mexican Grill in Lansing, Michigan, have voted to form a union with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, making it the first of the restaurant chain's 3,000 locations to organize, according to a press release.

"Today's victory is an amazing moment for our team that has worked so hard and spent many months organizing," Samantha Smith, 18, a crew member who has worked at the Lansing-area restaurant for more than two years, said in the release. "We set out to show that our generation can make substantial change in this world and improve our working conditions by taking action collectively. What this vote shows is that workers are going to keep taking the fight to big corporations like Chipotle and demand the working conditions we deserve."

Laurie Schalow, Chipotle's chief corporate affairs officer, said the employees were the company's greatest asset and that leadership has always tried to meet their needs.

"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," she said in an email to FastCasual. "Chipotle is proud to offer our employees industry-leading benefits such as competitive wages, debt-free degrees, tuition reimbursement up to $5,250 per year, health benefits and quarterly bonuses for all employees."

Last year, Chipotle provided jobs to nearly 100,000 people across North America, Canada and Europe and paid out nearly $37 million in bonuses to restaurant employees.

"We provide transparent career progression showing how Chipotle crew members can advance to a restaurateur, the highest general manager position, in as little as three and a half years, with a total compensation package of approximately $100,000 while leading a multi-million-dollar growing business," Schalow said.

Scott Quenneville, president of Local 243, said Chipotle pulled in revenue of $7.5 billion last year and was inspired by Chipotle workers demanding more from the company.

"The Teamsters have these workers' backs," he said in the release. "They're going to have a union they can be proud of, that knows how to get things done."

The workers filed for the election with the National Labor Relations Board on July 5. The corporate-owned restaurant did not object to the filing.

"We could not be more proud to be the first Chipotle restaurant in the United States to organize," 19-year-old Harper McNamara, a crewmember who has worked at the Lansing-area restaurant for over two years, said in the release. "Forming a union will allow us to have a true voice on the job and force Chipotle to address our concerns. I am so proud of all those who were involved in this effort, and showed the courage needed to take on a huge corporation."

Chipotle has four locations in and around Lansing. Local 243, with union halls in Lansing and Plymouth Township, represents over 4,000 workers in Michigan.

"The Teamsters Union is home to 1.2 million workers, and all of us are fighting for our brothers and sisters at Chipotle to get the rights and workplace protections they deserve," Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said in the release. "Now is the time for working people in this country to take back what's theirs. No matter your industry, no matter your age or how intimidating your employer may seem, you too can protect your labor with a union. The revitalization of labor is really just beginning."