Starbucks Workers United claims another NLRB victory
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Starbucks Workers United, the union of Starbucks partners organizing in Buffalo, has once again won a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling relating to its upcoming union votes.
In a last ditch effort to stop partners from having their voices heard, Starbucks attempted to impound the ballots already cast in the union election and requested that the NLRB stop the pending vote entirely. Today the NLRB dismissed the company’s request and approved the counting of the ballots, signaling yet another win for the partners before the NLRB where Starbucks has used every tactic available to try to stop the counting of the ballots.
Despite this historic and costly anti-union campaign by Starbucks, the partners fully intend to follow this win and establish the first ever unionized Starbucks in any of the company's over 8,000 locations. Starbucks Workers United released the following statement after the victory:
“Once again Starbucks tried to stop partners from voting, and once again they failed. At this point the company has strayed so far from its original values it’s hard to recognize the company I started with. This is exactly why we need a union – so our voices can be heard and we can work to make Starbucks the company we used to love,” said Michelle Eisen, a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks.
“It’s unfortunate to see them still trying to stop ballots from being counted at the 11th hour, but it shows the world what we’ve been up against with this company. We haven’t done anything wrong, we just want a voice in our workplace and despite the money Starbucks has spent on lawyers trying to stop that, the NLRB is telling us we have a right to this vote. If anything, this is bringing even more people onto our side when they see how hard the company is fighting its own partners”, said Jaz Brisack, who is also a partner at the Elmwood Starbucks.
Ian Hayes, an attorney working with the union, said “From the day partners filed the first NLRB petitions to hold union elections, Starbucks has shown it has no shame and will sink to any depth to try to break partners’ momentum, sow confusion, and interfere with partners’ right to a fair election. The company has failed every step of the way because the legal positions it has taken are intellectually vacant, and today’s decision by the NLRB is the latest proof of that.”
As ordered by the NLRB, voting is scheduled to end on December 8th with votes being counted on December 9 at 1:00pm EST by videoconference.
Media Contact: sbworkersunited@gmail.com
