Unionization efforts at the multinational coffee shop chain
Starbucks workers protesting outside a Tallahassee location
As of June 2023, over 8,000 workers at over 360 Starbucks stores in at least 40 states in the United States have voted to unionize, primarily with Workers United. As of March 2023[update] none have yet enacted a collective bargaining agreement.[1] This unionization effort started at a store in Buffalo, New York. About a third of Starbucks' Chilean workforce is already unionized, as well as 450 workers in New Zealand and eight stores in Canada. The longest Starbucks strike lasted 64 days, took place in Brookline, Massachusetts in September 2022 and resulted in the unionization of the employees at that location.
Starbucks Workers United has conducted strikes at over 190 store locations for more than 450 total days striking. SBWU has conducted numerous strikes over the course of its campaign. The largest strike action to date was on March 22, 2023 where 117 union locations staged the "One Day Longer, One Day Stronger" strike to commemorate outlasting interim-CEO Howard Schultz, who resigned prior to the Senate HELP committee hearing on union-busting sanctioned by Schultz.
Previously in the United States, there had been inconsistent unionization efforts beginning in the 1980s. Many of those unions folded, in part due to the company's long history of opposing unionization efforts. Warehouse and roasting plant workers in Seattle were Starbucks' first to unionize in 1985. During contract negotiation, the bargaining unit expanded to include store workers but the same workers moved to decertify their representation within two years.
Starbucks stores and a distribution plant unionized in British Columbia in the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s. The company strongly opposed unionization efforts in the 2000s through present day, with multiple National Labor Relations Board complaints ending in settlements or findings of labor law violations. The Industrial Workers of the World led an organizing campaign in the mid-2000s based in New York City that did not result in union recognition.
In December 2021, the Elmwood Avenue store in Buffalo became the first location in the United States to unionize in the 2020s. The first union vote in Starbucks' hometown of Seattle was unanimously in favor of the union.
^Hsu, Andrea (March 31, 2023). "Labor's labors lost? A year after stunning victory at Amazon, unions are stalled". NPR. Retrieved January 18, 2024. Close to 300 Starbucks stores have now unionized, but not a single one has negotiated a contract.
third of Starbucks' Chilean workforce is already unionized, as well as 450 workers in New Zealand and eight stores in Canada. The longest Starbucks strike...
coffee culture is generally attributed to Starbucks, which introduced a wider variety of coffee experiences. Starbucks serves hot and cold drinks, whole-bean...
assess coffee quality. Regarding Starbucks' frequent reports of loss in the UK, the CFO told the committee that Starbucks are "not at all pleased" about...
Following a successful union vote at Buffalo, New York, locations of the multinational coffeehouse chain Starbucks, multiple other company-owned locations...
Schultz began working at Starbucks in 1982. He later left and opened Il Giornale, a specialty coffeeshop that merged with Starbucks during the late 1980s...
improvements. This model was tried in the early 2000's by the IWW to organize Starbucksunions in the United States. Scheiber, Noam (2019-10-10). "The Radical Guidebook...
Unionization is the creation and growth of modern trade unions. Trade unions were often seen as a left-wing, socialist concept, whose popularity has increased...
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with 1,600 employees eligible for the vote. REI worker organization Starbucksunions Apple worker organizations Greenhouse, Steven (June 4, 2021). "Amazon...
The Starbucks Red Cup, also called the Starbucks holiday cup, is a modern Christmas and holiday season tradition and promotional campaign operated by coffee...
between unions and management were adversarial and often identified with aggressive hostility. Contemporary opposition to trade unions known as union busting...
union official. In some unions, the organizer's role is to recruit groups of workers under the organizing model. In other unions, the organizer's role is...
2023-03-15. Retrieved 2023-03-30. Wiener-Bronner, Danielle (2022-12-16). "Starbucksunion organizers wanted credit-card tipping. Now they're being left out |...
at least 170; and by March 2023 over 250 Starbucks cafes had unionised. Brisack has accused Starbucks of union busting, and pointed to its firing of seven...
organization in Bessemer, Alabama. In 2022, he visited drives for Starbucksunions as well as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Missouri...
executive officer (CEO) of Starbucks. He was previously chief commercial officer (CCO) of PepsiCo, and CEO of Reckitt. He joined Starbucks as interim CEO in October...
and eventually the world. America also saw labor unions gain increased traction, with Apple, Starbucks and Amazon among the most notable targets. In conjunction...
The Starbuck Chronicles are a series of historical fiction novels by British author Bernard Cornwell set during the American Civil War. They follow the...
"Spilling the Beans About Starbucks' Union-Busting Tactics". HuffPost. Retrieved November 12, 2017. "Storm in a coffee cup: Starbucks vs Ethiopia". The Economist...
election. In 2004, an IWW union was organized in a New York City Starbucks. In 2006, the IWW continued efforts at Starbucks by organizing several Chicago...
Workers union. Amazon worker organization Apple worker organizations Starbucksunions Tu, Janet I. (8 July 2016). "Some REI workers plan forum to push for...
workers belonging to a union in 2020 and 2021. In late 2021, a Starbucks store located in Buffalo, New York, became Starbucks' only unionized location...
such as Starbucks, Dunkin', McDonald's, and Tim Hortons. According to The Economist, the largest coffee war of the late 2000s was between Starbucks and McDonalds...
to Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz, he revealed in an exclusive interview with MarketWatch ahead of the letter's release. He said Starbucks has...
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