Starbucks Workers United, which is behind more than 180 Starbucks unionizations, recently reached another milestone: More than 300 Starbucks workers have filed for unionization.
The union announced the milestone in a tweet on Tuesday as it posted yet more letters from workers — this time in Clifton Park, New York, and Springfield, Oregon — announcing their intent to unionize. According to More Perfect Union 306 stores have filed to unionizeAs of Friday
Workers are applying to join this remarkable movement that has been so successful. about 187 stores winning their elections so far, according to People’s Policy Project; just eight months ago, there were zero unionized Starbucks locations. About 85 percent have won union elections.
50 workers in Buffalo, NY organized themselves just six months ago. Fast forward half a decade and there are now more than 180 Starbucks stores in union across the country. This is what a worker-powered movement can do. https://t.co/DEzeWtssso
— SBWorkersUnited (@SBWorkersUnited) July 5, 2022
People’s Policy Project also found in a report on Monday that the 82 elections the union won last month covered nearly 2,200 workers, bringing the total number of Starbucks workers covered under unions to 5,080. The report states that the union will soon be covering nearly 8,000 workers, with 104 victories expected in the coming months.
Starbucks was also the subject of 225 unfair labor practice allegations by the union. These charges were filed against the company for allegedly violating the law hundreds times during its anti-union campaign.
The company has retaliated against workers who are pro-union. firingMany union organizers and employees who support unions. At least one unionized store must be closedAmong many other charges, Workers in Seattle were last week at three unionizing stores were abruptly told that their jobs at the stores were gone, and that they should either transfer to another store or quit — a move that workers said was a blatant act of union busting. According to the union, only one worker had been rehired as of June 24.
“I was convinced that if I followed through with supporting the company, without a union, I would be well taken care of,” one worker who was affected by the announcement said in a press release. “After expressing my love for the company to Howard Schultz, it is an absolute betrayal to be displaced from the store I loved so much only a month later with no explanation as to why, just gone. It’s hard to believe this wasn’t premeditated.”
Starbucks has been threatening union members recently, too You will loseTrans-inclusive Health Care Access and abortion travel fundsIn cruel attempts to leverage fear Recent right-wing attacks against bodily autonomyin an effort to stop the union effort.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has taken note of the company’s union-busting efforts. The board’s Buffalo office recently filed in courtForcing Starbucks to reinstate seven union organizers it fired in January, we asked for an injunction.
The NLRB also asked the court for a bargaining order — one of the most forcible actions it can take against an employer — to require the company to recognize and bargain with a union in one of the original stores that filed for a union, Camp Road in Buffalo. The union vote had failed in the store, but the NLRB said that “traditional Board remedies will be unable to restore ‘laboratory conditions’ to enable the NLRB to conduct a free and fair rerun election.”
“This decision is an important step in holding CEO [Howard Schultz] accountable for his assault against workers exercising their fundamental right to organize,” Starbucks Workers United wroteResponding to the NLRB filing. “We hope that Starbucks will choose to reverse their anti-union campaign and instead choose to work with their partners.”
