"Starbucks workers at three New York locations will vote to organise first union in company history", 29 October 2021

Workers at three Starbucks locations in New York have scored a victory in their campaign for union membership.

The stores in the Buffalo, New York area will hold separate vote-by-mail elections from 10 November and ending on 8 December to vote on whether to unionise, according to a decision from the National Labor Relations Board on 28 October.

Workers will need only a majority of votes cast at a single location to form a union; Starbucks argued that employees at all 20 Buffalo-area stores would need to vote in a single election.

There are roughly 128 employees at the three participating stores, according to a filing from the board.

If successful, the stores will be the first among Starbucks’ 8,000 company-owned stores to unionise...

Starbucks...said in a statement that the company’s success “has come from our working directly together as partners, without a third party between us.”

“We remain focused on supporting our partners as well as maintaining open, transparent and direct conversations throughout the process,” the statement said...