Starbucks fighting growing push to unionize

Starbucks is fighting an expanded effort to unionize its stores, even as a union vote proceeds at three of the coffee chain’s locations in Buffalo, New York.

Union organizers from three additional Buffalo-area stores appeared before the National Labor Relations Board on Thursday, asking to hold union votes at each of their stores. The workers say they want more input on pay and store operations and they’re seeking representation by Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union.

Starbucks’ attorney at the hearing reiterated the company’s request to conduct one vote with all 20 stores in the Buffalo area. The labor board hearing is expected to last for several days.

In late October, the labor board in the Buffalo region approved union votes at three separate Buffalo-area stores. Starbucks has appealed that ruling to the full labor board in Washington, but voting began last month despite that appeal.

The labor board could count those votes as early as Dec. 9. Starbucks has said around 111 employees are eligible to vote at those three stores.

Starbucks has never had unionized workers in the U.S. in its 50-year history. The Seattle-based company has 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores.

Starbucks attorney Alan Model noted Thursday that 45.5% of baristas and shift supervisors in the Buffalo area worked at more than one store in the company’s 2021 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 3. That helps the company meet shifting customer demand at its locations, Model said.

But Ian Hayes, an attorney for Workers United, said the labor board has already determined that individual store union elections are appropriate.

“Labor relations takes place at the store level,” he said. Hayes also said it’s uncommon for baristas to work at different stores.

In the meantime, the unionization effort is spreading. On Nov. 18, workers at a Starbucks store in Mesa, Arizona, filed paperwork with the labor relations board asking for their own union election.