Starbucks workers unionize at 6 more stores

In Upstate New York, workers at six more Starbucks stores have voted to unionize on Thursday and Friday. This is a string of wins for the workers at one of the country's most ubiquitous coffee retailers. Workers United, a labor union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, announced on Thursday that two stores in Rochester and another store in Buffalo had voted in its favor.

Later on Friday, the National Labor Relations Board confirmed that the workers at three more coffee shops in Ithaca, NY voted overwhelmingly to form a union. This makes the number of unionized company-owned stores 16 out of almost 9,000. Meanwhile, at Overland Park, Kan in a separate vote, the union had six votes yes and one vote no. But there were seven challenged ballots which is potentially enough to affect the outcome. 

According to vote counts confirmed by the NLRB, the votes were close at one of the stores in Rochester with the union winning 13 to 11, while the other five stores favored the union by significant margins. A Starbucks spokesperson said that the turnout was relatively low in Thursday’s elections with only about half of eligible voters participating for one of the stores. 

Source: The Washington Post