It’s become a common sight: jubilant Starbucks workers celebrating after successful votes to unionize at dozens of U.S. stores.
But when the celebrations die down, a daunting hurdle remains: To win the changes they seek — like better pay and more reliable schedules — unionized stores must sit down with Starbucks and negotiate a contract.
It’s a painstaking process that can take years.
“The meat is at the bargaining table,” said AJ Jones, Starbucks’ senior vice president of global communications and a former consultant to companies during labor negotiations.
At least 85 of Starbucks’ 9,000 company-run U.S. stores — representing 7,444 workers — have voted to unionize since December, according to the National Labor Relations Board, and at least 10 stores have rejected the union. Many more elections are coming; at least 268 stores across the U.S. have petitioned the NLRB to hold union elections.
The labor board says it has officially certified 64 of those 85 elections, which means Starbucks must begin bargaining with the union at those stores. So far, just three — two in Buffalo, New York, and one in Mesa, Arizona — have begun the process; many others are talking to Starbucks about dates to begin negotiating, according to Workers United, which represents the unionized stores.
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