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Unionization Efforts Gaining Foothold at Starbucks, Amazon, REI, Etc. - What Gives?


For those that have been paying attention over the past few months, unionization efforts have been taking off at various companies across the country.  Not to be glib for those readers that are strong supporters of labor unions, but workers seeking to unionize is nothing new.

However, what makes some of these recent unionization efforts at Starbucks, Amazon, and REI, among others, especially noteworthy is the fact that there are tangible achievements being made to create the first unions at these companies.  Take Starbucks, for instance.  Prior to elections at three stores in Buffalo a few months ago, Starbucks had repeatedly been able to keep unions out of its company owned locations.  However, workers at two of the three Buffalo locations voted to unionize.  What happened afterward?  Workers at dozens (and dozens) of locations elsewhere around the company announced they were taking steps to unionize as well.  In fact, a location in Mesa, Arizona recently became another store in which workers voted overwhelmingly to unionize.  This, of course, has led workers at other locations to announce that they too will seek to form a union.  That has led many watching this story develop come to the conclusion that all it took was the successful unionization of those two locations in Buffalo for workers to see that unionization at Starbucks was possible.

Consider as well the second election currently underway at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama.  Readers will likely recall that while the first mail in election resulted in a large number of workers voting against unionization, those results were thrown out and a second election was ordered.  While I am not going to make a prediction that these workers will swing the opposite way and vote to unionize this time, I think that a closer election will give workers at other Amazon warehouses the “courage” (or maybe I should say inspiration) to attempt to unionize as well.  If, however, the workers at the Bessemer location actually voted to unionize…oh boy.  That would set a chain reaction in motion almost immediately in which I would expect to see press releases, rallies, and related events at other warehouses with Amazon workers loudly voicing their intent to unionize.

Finally, consider the approval of workers at an REI location in SoHo, New York to unionize.  A vote on March 2nd saw 88 workers vote for unionization with only 14 voting against it.  In doing so, this becomes the first unionized REI in the country.  Unlike workers at Starbucks, I have not seen much in the way of rumblings of other REI locations unionizing following the March 2nd vote.  However, it would not surprise me if workers at other REI locations saw that despite the company fighting against unionization, it is possible to successfully unionize at the company.

As noted, the key thing for a lot of success with these unionization efforts has been momentum.  Starbucks workers certainly have it.  REI workers have it following the March 2nd vote in SoHo.  Amazon workers might even have it too, depending upon the vote in Alabama.  For those watching, the past few months have been packed to the gills with positive union developments for organized labor.  The question remains, how long will this momentum last?


For additional information:  https://gothamist.com/news/rei-workers-in-soho-voted-to-form-companys-first-union-organizers-say

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