Chipotle is closing a Maine store that had led efforts to unionize the chain.
Employees in Augusta, Maine, Chipotle filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board in June to call for a union election to be held in the store. It was the first of the stores in the Mexican food chain to file such a request, according to NLRB documents.
The NLRB had scheduled a hearing Tuesday on Chipotle’s objections to the union election. But early Tuesday, Chipotle announced it was permanently closing the store.
Union organizers say they will fight the closure. They say Chipotle is retaliating for his unionization efforts and is trying to send a message to other stores that could try to unionize.
“We’re calling this union that breaks 101,” said Jeffrey Young, a lawyer for Chipotle United, the group that was trying to unionize the Augusta store.
But Chipotle said the closure was due to staffing issues and was unrelated to union activity.
“Chipotle respects the organizational rights of our employees,” Laurie Schalow, Chipotle’s director of corporate affairs, said in a statement.
The closure comes amid a wider union push across the country. Chipotle United has said it was inspired by Starbucks job organizers, who have been unionized more than 180 stores in the United States since late last year. Also Amazon workers in a New York warehouse voted in favor of unionization in Spring
Chipotle, based in Newport Beach, California, said the Augusta store had been closed to the public since June 17 due to staffing issues. The company said it was facing “excessive” absences and a lack of availability of existing staff and found it difficult to find people responsible for the store.
Chipotle said store workers will receive compensation for layoffs and assistance in finding new jobs. Young said there were about 20 workers in the store.
Young said the lack of staff in the store is one of the main complaints of union organizers. Chipotle United plans to ask the NLRB to introduce a precautionary measure that will prevent Chipotle from closing Augusta’s store and allow union elections to move forward.
Starbucks has also been criticized by labor organizers for closing stores that have been unionized, including a store that closed last month in Ithaca, New York.
Unlike Starbucks ’union effort, which has the support of the larger Workers United union, Chipotle United is an independent organization.
But the big unions also support Chipotle’s organizing efforts. The Teamsters filed a union petition with the NLRB this month on behalf of workers at a Chipotle store in Lansing, Michigan. There is also a group called the Chipotle Workers Union that has the support of the International Union of Service Employees.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. owns and operates about 3,000 stores in the United States.
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