Following last week’s historic win in Buffalo, in which Starbucks workers formed the First-ever union in the companyTwo Starbucks workers in Boston have filed petitions to unionize. If they’re successful, they’ll be among the first of the company’s roughly 9,000 corporate-owned locations to form a union.
Workers filed on MondayTo request union votes for locations within Boston and Brookline, or a town in the Boston metro area. They would be joining Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union — the same union that workers in Buffalo have now joined.
The filing comes just days after Starbucks employees — or partners, as the company refers to them — at Buffalo, New York’s Elmwood location voted overwhelmingly in favor of the union, 19 to 8. They had faced monumental oddsThe company waged a fierce anti-union campaign.
Genesee Street is another location in Buffalo that is still waiting for its union election results from be certified by National Labor Relations Board. However, the union was ahead by 15 to 9 at the initial count. Seven challenged ballots are currently being reviewed by the agency.
The Massachusetts workers join four other Starbucks locations currently engaged in a union campaign. Three additional locations are also located in Buffalo. one location in ArizonaWorkers United has filed for unionization. The Massachusetts filing is a sign that, labor leaders have predicted, Buffalo workers’ successful unionization effort is inspiring workers at Starbucks and even independent coffee shopsTo start similar efforts.
The workers of Boston expressed solidarity with the organizers of the Buffalo Starbucks in a letter addressed to Kevin Johnson, CEO, Starbucks.
“Like the partners in Buffalo, Arizona, and beyond, we believe that there can be no true partnership without power-sharing and accountability,” the workers wrote. “We are organizing a union in Boston because we believe that this is the best way to contribute meaningfully to our partnership with the company.”
In the letter, the workers appeal to the company’s mission, saying that Starbucks should live up its stated valuesWorkplace unity and power for workers. “Starbucks’ mission is improving communities one coffee at a time,” they write. “Respecting partners’ right to organize will help us help the company accomplish this mission, by improving our lives and raising standards across the industry.”
The letter writers call on Johnson to sign a list of “fair election principles” laid out by the unionThis includes requests that Starbucks stop interfering in the work of union organizers.
The principles are unlikely to be accepted by the company, which has already agreed to them taken bold and potentially illegal stepsto defeat union campaigns. It used the same union-busting steps as companies like Amazon. Have deployedThis includes holding mandatory anti-union meetings or telling employees to vote no.
The company also sent multiple executives former CEO Howard SchultzBuffalo to monitor workers and possibly discourage them voting for unionization. The company closed its stores so that workers could attend a bizarre talk given by Schultz, according to a video. reviewed by ViceHe suggested that the $139 billion corporation was akin to Holocaust victims. Meanwhile, executives went to unionizing shops to intimidate workers. while obfuscatingThey play an important role in the company.
The company has now moved its anti union tactics to the next set locations that are trying to organize, after the first round of union elections. According to the union, the company deliberately scheduled pro-union workers at Depew (one of the Buffalo locations trying to unionize). Workers who are forced to work irregular hours can feel destabilized.
It also creates unsafe working conditions. overstaffing, which doesn’t allow workers to socially distance, and sending representatives from the company to surveilThe store is available at all times.
“Starbucks is purposefully scheduling pro-union partners at inconsistent hours. They are often scheduled both open and close shifts in the same week,” Starbucks Workers United wrote. “This type of scheduling disrupts our ability to have a regular sleep schedule and hurts our mental health.”
Even after the Elmwood location’s votes to unionize were officially counted by the NLRB, the company continued its anti-union messaging. “I am saddened that in the end the majority of you decided it was best for Workers United to represent you,” a Starbucks district manager wrote to Elmwood union members, claiming that the union was “divisive.”
However, the unionization seems to have brought together the local community in excitement; customers have been energizedTo show solidarity with the unionized workers, we sent digital tips and congratulatory letters to the store. workers said.
“Customers are excited. Many of them are new customers to Starbucks. They tell me that they are only here because Starbucks is now united. One of these leaves a $20 tip,” wrote Jaz BrisackElmwood worker –
