Chipotle Workers in Michigan Vote to Form Union, in First for Restaurant Chain

Chipotle Workers in Michigan Vote to Form Union, in First for Restaurant Chain
A sign marks the location of a Chipotle restaurant in Chicago, on Oct. 25, 2017. Scott Olson/Getty Images
Reuters
Updated:
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NEW YORK—Workers at a Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. restaurant in Lansing, Michigan, on Thursday voted to form a union, becoming the first U.S. Chipotle location to unionize.

Employees voted 11 to 3 in support of joining Joint Council 43, International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), according to a tally by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Workers at a Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant in Augusta, Maine, were the first U.S. Chipotle location to seek to unionization, petitioning in June for an election, but the NLRB regional director ordered that the election be paused while an unfair labor practice charge alleging that Chipotle unlawfully closed the store be investigated.

The workers in Maine formed an independent union called Chipotle United.

By Doyinsola Oladipo