Starbucks workers in Buffalo make history with union vote

Starbucks is the world’s largest coffeehouse chain and one of the most recognizable consumer brands in existence. In the US alone, Starbucks has nearly 9,000 corporate-owned stores, and not a single one of them is unionized … until now. After leading an organizing campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic and facing tireless efforts by the company to delay, deflate, and defeat union elections with the National Labor Relations Board, workers at three Starbucks locations in Buffalo, New York, submitted their ballots this week. After vote counting took place on Thursday, one of the three Buffalo stores, located on Elmwood Avenue, became the first unionized company-owned store in the US. Another store, located on Camp Road, voted against unionizing, and workers at the Genesee Street store in Cheektowaga appear to have voted “yes” on unionizing, but challenges to several votes are still being reviewed.

In this Working People mini-cast, TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez talks with Brian Murray, one of the Buffalo Starbucks workers and organizers with SBWorkers United, and journalist Jordan Chariton, who recently traveled to Buffalo to speak with Starbucks workers and report on their fight for Status Coup.

Read the transcript of this interview: https://therealnews.com/how-unionizing-starbucks-workers-took-on-a-corporate-giant

Additional links/info below...

SBWorkers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram:
https://sbworkersunited.org/
https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited
https://www.instagram.com/sbworkersunited/

GoFundMe: Starbucks Retaliates Against Whistleblower: https://www.gofundme.com/f/starbucks-retaliates-against-whistleblower

Brian's Twitter page: https://twitter.com/brianmurrray1

Jordan's Twitter page: https://twitter.com/JordanChariton

Status Coup website, Twitter page, and YouTube channel:
https://statuscoup.com/
https://twitter.com/StatusCoup
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0pCsHlEEmCfxllZSlRB2Og

Sean Collins, Strikewave, "It’s about having a democratic voice in Starbucks." Interview with Brian Murray of SBWorkersUnited": https://www.thestrikewave.com/interviews/interview-with-brian-murray-of-starbucks-union

Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, "As Starbucks Workers Seek a Union, Company Officials Converge on Stores": https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/18/business/economy/starbucks-union-buffalo.html

Ahiza García-Hodges, NBC News, "Former Starbucks CEO Uses Holocaust Analogy to Describe Coffee Company’s Mission": https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/former-starbucks-ceo-uses-holocaust-analogy-describe-coffee-companys-m-rcna5170

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive at freemusicarchive.org):
Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song"

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