Two more local Starbucks unionize
Cafes in Newton, Somerville won votes this week
Baristas at two more Starbucks in Greater Boston unionized this week, bumping the number of organized cafes in the state up to 17.
The vote was unanimous at the Newton Corner location at 259 Centre St., while employees voted 6-1 in favor of unionizing at the cafe at 711 Somerville Ave. near Porter Square in Somerville.
“I unionized not just for me but for my siblings and for future generations,” Newton barista Nasser Musisi Jr. said in a statement. “They all deserve equal pay and a way to feel safe.”
In a statement, the union, Starbucks Workers United, said employees at both locations had originally filed for election in June and voted “overwhelmingly” to join the union.
But as the Globe reported at the time, Starbucks objected to those elections, claiming that shift managers’ initial support of the union amounted to “supervisory taint” on other workers.
(Shift supervisors have some authority over workers but are not eligible for incentive plans and bonuses like baristas. In other states, workers in the position have successfully participated in union drives.)
Eventually, workers in Somerville and Newton were forced to rerun the election. Now the “wins show the determination of Starbucks partners across the country to win in the face of a concerted anti-union campaign,” the statement from the union continued.
In an email, Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said “unlawful organizing activity interfered with the ability to hold a free and fair election in these stores” earlier this year.
But “following rerun elections conducted by the [National Labor Relations Board] this week, we acknowledge and respect our partners’ decision at our Newton Corner and Somerville Ave stores to elect union representation,” Trull said.
The company said the NLRB still must certify the outcome of the union representation election.
Still, the local votes breathe new life into the labor movement at Starbucks, which started in December 2021 when a Buffalo, N.Y., cafe became the first location to unionize the Seattle-based coffee chain.
Almost two years later, the campaign has transformed into an era-defining battle between a growing legion of employees and a company they say has been largely unwilling to negotiate with them. The National Labor Relations Board has issued dozens of complaints against Starbucks accusing it of illegal behavior, which the company denies.