Topline
Employees at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize Thursday the National Labor Relations Board said, and it could become the first of the coffee giant’s U.S. stores to form a union (a second Starbucks in Buffalo voted down the measure).
Starbucks employees celebrate after one of the three stories in Buffalo, New York that held a union ... [+]
Key Facts
Around 100 workers at three separate Starbucks locations voted in Thursday’s union election.
Workers at a store in Buffalo’s Elmwood neighborhood voted 19-8 in favor of a union, a second location rejected unionization (12-8) and the results at a third store were undecided as of 3:18 p.m. ET as the number of votes challenged could tilt the final count in either direction.
Starbucks operates nearly 9,000 stores in the U.S. and employs roughly 235,000 people at those locations—none had been unionized.
Workers at the three locations are demanding to discuss their wages and work environment, and baristas told Reuters they were struggling with a pandemic-era surge in mobile app orders.
Starbucks has vehemently opposed the union drive, sending legendary former CEO Howard Schultz to the Buffalo locations to persuade the workers to vote against a union, according to CNBC.
A Starbucks spokesperson told Forbes by email: “We are grateful for each partner who exercised their right to vote,” adding it believes that all employees in a district where a union election takes place should have a chance to cast their ballots to “protect partner flexibility and transferability.”
Chief Critic
Johnson told the Wall Street Journal the direct relationship Starbucks has with its workers has allowed it to respond more quickly to employee concerns and needs. A union “goes against having that direct relationship with our partners that has served us so well for decades and allowed us to build this great company,” Johnson said. He added the coffee chain announced it will increase wages and staffing after listening to worker concerns in Buffalo.
Surprising Fact
In 2020, 1.2% of workers at food services and drinking businesses were unionized, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure is lower than 6.3% in the private -sector overall and 34.8% in the public -sector.
Key Background
Last month, Starbucks Workers United filed a complaint with the NLRB accusing the coffee chain of attempting to squelch the union drive through “a campaign of threats, intimidation, surveillance.” On Tuesday, the NLRB denied Starbucks’ request to expand the union election to all stories in Buffalo. Starbucks is often perceived as progressive in its policies: It pays for workers’ university tuition and offers benefits that include gender reassignment surgeries for trans employees and paid parental leave. The union at the Buffalo store that voted to organize won’t be finalized until the NLRB certifies the results, which is expected to take about a week, according to the Associated Press.
What To Watch For
If more Starbucks workers move forward to unionize. Before Thursday’s vote, Starbucks did not have union representation at locations in the country. Previous union drives in Philadelphia in 2019 and in New York City in the early 2000s did not materialize. But the results could give a boost to workers trying to unionize at three other locations in Buffalo and another in Arizona.
Tangent
Some other large employers have also faced union actions in recent months. Amid a tight labor market, workers at four Kellogg’s cereal plants have been on strike since October, demanding higher pay. They rejected the company’s offer to increase pay by 3%. Kellogg said earlier this week it is replacing 1,400 employees involved in the strike. Meanwhile at Amazon, the NLRB ordered a second union election at a warehouse in Alabama, after the company faced allegations of intimidation during an unsuccessful drive to form the company’s first U.S. union earlier this year. Thousands of John Deere workers took part in a months-long strike before reaching an agreement on wage increase and better benefits last month.
Further Reading
Starbucks union drive spurred by barista burnout from mobile orders (Reuters)
Kellogg to replace 1,400 strikers as deal is rejected (Guardian)
Starbucks Workers File Complaint Allege Company Illegally Responded To Union Drive (Forbes)
