Starbucks Buffalo Store Workers Vote To Unionize: Will Others Follow?

The workers at a Starbucks Corporation SBUX café in Buffalo, New York, have made history by becoming the first employees employed by the coffee chain to vote in favor of unionizing.

What Happened: CNBC reported that workers at the 933 Elmwood Ave. café voted 19 to eight in favor of organizing a union. Two other Buffalo locations are also considering unionizing, and as of 2 p.m. EST the voting was being tabulated by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Starbucks’ corporate leadership has been opposed to unionization at its venues, to the point of having former CEO Howard Schultz and current executives travel to Buffalo in an effort to dissuade employees from going that route. However, Starbucks Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, called that effort “union busting” and North American President Rossann Williams issued an apology “if anybody thought that was intimidation.”

Related Link: Stock Wars: Starbucks Vs. Coffee Holding Co.

Why It Matters: Organized labor is conspicuously absent throughout most of the restaurant industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported only 1.2% of workers at food and drinking outlets were members of unions as of 2020, compared to the wider private-sector unionization rate of 6.3%.

The NLRB supported the union push at Starbucks by allowing the Buffalo-area stores to vote as single units rather than in a confederation of all 20 locations, which Starbucks sought. As a result of the NLRB’s decision, 81 workers were eligible to vote rather than the 450 total.

Starbucks has tried to dilute the appeal of union membership through more generous wages. In late October, it announced was raising all U.S. hourly wages to at least $15 per hour and up to $23 by the summer of 2022; the current minimum wage for its workers is $12. The company also promised a 5% raise in January to employees with two or more years on the job and a raise of up to 10% for those with five or more years. This marked the third time in 24 months Starbucks raised its workforce’s pay.

Photo: Şahin Sezer Dinçer / Pixabay