Posts tagged Starbucks
Park Slope Starbucks closing, after October unionization
January 17, 2025 // While Starbucks said in a statement that the company has “engaged Workers United to discuss transfer options for the 14 partners currently employed at this location to continue working at nearby stores,” Sammy said Starbucks had told partners they were not guaranteed a job at another store, but Starbucks would do its best to find them a position within the company.
Opinion: Better Capitalism Will Reduce The Need For Unions
January 17, 2025 // But now, slowly but surely, we see the pendulum starting to swing again. A new generation of corporate leaders increasingly recognize the downsides of shareholder primacy and the benefits of multi-stakeholder capitalism. Some companies are moving away from treating workers as replaceable widgets — as pure cost centers — and increasingly see them as the key to improving productivity and innovation, which are now the key drivers of long-term profit. Some notable examples in recent years include Delta Airlines, Home Depot, Costco, Best Buy, and JP Morgan Chase.
SEIU Rejoins AFL-CIO After Splitting Off 20 Years Ago
January 8, 2025 // The reaffiliation means the AFL-CIO can more directly pitch in on SEIU campaigns, including a high-profile one at Starbucks. That effort is led by Workers United, an SEIU affiliate, and has led to more than 500 unionized stores nationwide at the coffee chain, making it one of the most closely watched organizing pushes in decades.
Starbucks baristas to return to work after five-day strike
December 27, 2024 // The strike shut down more than 300 locations, including some in the Los Angeles area, after more than 5,000 Starbucks workers walked out last Tuesday. The union representing the baristas, called Starbucks Workers United says it is ready to return to the bargaining table. Talks with the company had stalled over pay, staffing and scheduling.
OPINION: Restaurants get a preview of regulation under Trump
December 18, 2024 // Under McFerran’s leadership, the board also greatly altered the organizing process. Previously, employees had to request permission from the NLRB for a vote on unionizing. Now a shop is assumed to be unionized if a majority of the workers so much as express a preference for union representation. A vote is held only if the employer seeks it as a way of keeping the union out. And if the NLRB decides the business is trying to nudge workers toward a "No" vote, it can scrap the election and recognize the union with a vote never being held.
La Colombe Fires West Loop Baristas as Unionized Workers Cry Foul
December 11, 2024 // During the meetings, the baristas were shown videos of them working. In the footage, the baristas were giving away free drip coffee to regular patrons, other service industry workers, and unhoused individuals. Throughout the meetings, the company’s representatives questioned the baristas and took detailed notes.
Legal Update: Three Major NLRB Updates Pose New Challenges for Employers
December 9, 2024 // Employers must remain diligent in staying abreast of these recent shifts in labor law and policy, especially on the cusp of an administration change. While GC Abruzzo’s term appears likely to end early in 2025, and the Board majority could flip in 2025 or 2026, the new Republican administration’s position on labor policy remains unclear, especially in light of the recent nomination of a pro-labor nominee to lead the Department of Labor.
Starbucks announces closure of Portland store that voted to unionize
December 5, 2024 // Starbucks says it reviewed whether the store was thriving, the workers felt supported and whether customer needs were met. Workers at that store just voted to unionize less than a month ago.
One-day strikes are in: Why unions are keeping it short on the picket line
December 4, 2024 // When it comes to getting employers to cave to demands, the success of one-day strikes is mixed — especially for those low-wage, low-leverage workers. Short work stoppages failed to unionize Walmart in the 2010s, along with those fast food workers from Fight for 15. Starbucks and its unionized employees are still negotiating a first contract. Long strikes are still happening — just ask SAG-AFTRA — and probably won’t be phased out entirely because they still carry much more leverage. Instead, one-day strikes often have a different goal in mind that’s still essential for a union victory — getting workers excited.
Starbucks Barista Asks Labor Board to Overturn Regional Official’s Decision to Continue Blocking Vote to Remove Union
November 21, 2024 // Smith’s appeal challenges the regional NLRB’s refusal to reinstate her decertification petition, which it is still stonewalling despite the resolution of SBWU union officials’ charges against Starbucks that were ostensibly the justification for blocking the workers’ petition for a vote to remove the union. Smith argues that the decision is inconsistent not only with the Board’s past reasons for holding up the petition, but also with workers’ right under federal labor law to promptly have an election to remove a union they do not want.