Starbucks workers successfully unionized another location on Monday. The Genesee Street store in Buffalo (New York) is now the second corporate-owned Starbucks store to form a union.
After reviewing ballots that had been disputed, the National Labor Relations Board certified the results of the Genesee Street store in Buffalo. The final count was 15 to 9In favor of unionization
After A month of deliberationThe NLRB ruled against the inclusion in ballots of employees from another store. The ballots were used by the company to attempt to pack the vote. Camp Street, a third Buffalo-area store, voted against unionization. However, Starbucks Workers United is disputing these results.
Workers at Genesee Street celebrated the news. “Words cannot describe how we are feeling right now,” Genesee Street shift supervisor Caroline Lerczak told WGRZ. “After months of anti-union meetings, intimidation tactics, and intense pressure to vote ‘no’, we can finally say we won our union. I would love to see Starbucks show some accountability for their actions and come to the bargaining table to negotiate with us now.”
The company waged a vigorous union-busting campaign against the workers. sent executivesBuffalo to intimidate employees. The company also took drastic measures like Unionizing stores closed This is apparently temporary to make unionizing harder. This is in spite of the organizing workers requesting that the company follow Starbucks Workers United’s “Fair Election Principles” that ask the company not to interfere with unionization.
The company is now participating in union campaigns in other stores. It appears to beThe company is shifting its anti-union tactics elsewhere. Workers at Depew, Buffalo, a unionizing location, claimed that the company had deliberately scheduled workers erratically in order to disrupt organizing efforts and destabilize employees by forcing them to work irregular hours.
According to reports, the company also created unsafe working conditions By overstaffing, which doesn’t allow frontline workers to distance themselves from others in the face of yet another wave of coronavirus.
However, it may prove difficult for the company in large-scale union-busting campaigns at all stores due to the sheer volume of unionizing shops. Roughly 17 storesRecent months have seen more stores file to unionize than ever before Elmwood in Buffalo.
According to the union, Starbucks employees at the Hopewell, New Jersey, location are not eligible for overtime. were the latest to file. Three other stores filed unionization applications in recent days. Workers in Chicago, Cleveland, or Eugene, Oregon citing the company’s stated principles as reasons why executives should allow workers to organize.
For context about how fast these Starbucks stores are joining forces, the most active sector in 2021 was the cannabis workers in Illinois. In fact, 13 IL weed workplaces filed for a ballot in 2021.
Six Starbucks stores have filed for elections over the past two week.
— Jonah Furman (@JonahFurman) January 11, 2022
Employees have pointed to poor working conditions – including understaffing issues and being forced to come in sick – as a reason to organize. Indeed, Elmwood workersProtesting unsafe COVID protocols, the union went on strike last Wednesday. According to a union member obtained by ViceOne barista at the location had tested positive.
“We believe that Starbucks should close our store and pay our partners until we can re-open safely and fully staffed, with those who have been exposed having the opportunity to isolate and stop the spread,” the letter read. “We are on strike until we believe it is safe to return to work.” The strike endedMonday
