Starbucks workers in upstate New York are deciding whether they want to join a union, a move that would be unprecedented at stores owned by the company in the United States.
More than 80 baristas and shift supervisors from three stores around Buffalo have been voting by mail on whether to join Workers United, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union. The election ends Wednesday, and the result is expected Thursday afternoon.
No corporate-owned Starbucks location in the U.S. has unionized so far. The company has fought off organizing attempts in New York City and Philadelphia. Last year, workers at a store in Canada formed a union, negotiating their first contract with the coffee chain this summer.
The Starbucks union push is among the highest-profile cases to play out during a historic year for labor. For months, retail and restaurant workers have quit at record rates; companies have fought for staff in a busy shopping year, raising wages faster than they have in years. A wave of union drives and strikes has swept factories, health care, tech and other industries.
Unionization had long seemed unattainable for Starbucks staff, said Lexi Rizzo, one of the Buffalo-area workers. "With the pandemic, with all of the labor shortages across the nation, it was finally the perfect storm," Rizzo said, "where for once we weren't disposable as food service employees anymore."
The workers face difficult odds. Restaurants are among the least unionized businesses in the...
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