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Workers at Buffalo Starbucks Attempt Unionization Effort

 

At the end of August, a group of workers at a few Buffalo Starbucks locations announced that they were forming a union called Starbucks Workers United.

The workers, who filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), have asked the NLRB to hold elections in the coming weeks.  According to the petition, the workers are intending to hold elections store by store in the Buffalo area.  In order to do so, at least 30% of eligible workers at each location (estimated to be 20 - 30 eligible workers at each location) are required to sign union cards in order for a workplace to qualify for a vote.

According to several workers, they claim that the coronavirus pandemic spurred them to unionize, due in part to increased demand, longer hours, and more hostile customers, among other alleged issues in the workplace.  In doing so, they claim that unionizing is needed to protect their rights and better represent them in regard to workplace issues.

Following the announcement of the attempt to unionize, Starbucks has indicated that while it respected the decision of its workers, it did not believe unionization was necessary given the company’s “pro-partner environment.”  It is widely expected that Starbucks will fight back and seek to delay a vote on the unionization in an effort to ramp up opposition to unionization efforts.  Stay tuned.


For additional information:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/business/starbucks-coffee-buffalo-union.html

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