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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />Read the transcript of this interview: <a href="https://therealnews.com/how-unionizing-starbucks-workers-took-on-a-corporate-giant" rel="noopener">https://therealnews.com/how-unionizing-starbucks-workers-took-on-a-corporate-giant</a><br /><br />Additional links/info below...<br /><br />SBWorkers United website, Twitter page, and Instagram:<br /><a href="https://sbworkersunited.org/" rel="noopener">https://sbworkersunited.org/</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited</a><br /><a href="https://www.instagram.com/sbworkersunited/" rel="noopener">https://www.instagram.com/sbworkersunited/</a><br /><br />GoFundMe: Starbucks Retaliates Against Whistleblower: <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/starbucks-retaliates-against-whistleblower"