ST. LOUIS – Starbucks workers from two St. Louis City locations intend to unionize in hopes for improved working conditions, wages and schedules.

Workers recently sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan announcing that they filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.

In the letter, workers explained they’re unionizing to “achieve the change we wish to see in our workplace,” and calling on Starbucks to “acknowledge that partners are more than bodies yielding record profits.”

Once official, Starbucks workers the Gravois and Rock Hill Starbucks locations will join a union with workers at the Grand & Sidney, in addition to more than 8,000 baristas nationwide.

We all started out as people who love coffee and love this community, but we’ve been treated as lesser than and worked to the bone. This union gives us, and those in the future, a sense of humanity and fairness,” said Emily Daugherty, shift leader at the Gravois & Rock Hill store.

The unionizing also follows some pushback that Starbucks has seen in connection with the St. Louis area. Last year, the coffee giant cited allegations from a board employee that regional NLRB officials improperly coordinated with union organizers.

Also, there were a series of protests held in Ladue after one Starbucks employees claimed a co-worker was fired over wearing a pro-union shirt to work.