Despite the very small number of workers involved, the Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY made history Dec. 9 when it became the first one in the Starbucks chain to vote to unionize. The workers voted 19-8 to be represented by Workers United in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbucks, the biggest coffee seller in the world, operates nearly 10,000 stores in the United States. It has waged a relentless war on union organizing attempts in Buffalo, closing some stores, and packing the others with new workers who, they hoped, would outvote the pro-union employees there. To counter the union organizing drive they sent in managers and executives to intimidate workers who have been complaining for years about the understaffing, chaotic conditions, restrictions on sick days, low pay and erratic hours.
Although the number of workers is small, the election is significant because it could mark a significant boost in the unionization of other Starbucks stores and among restaurant workers who are the least unionized workers in the country.
https://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/icon.png500500Paul Beckerhttps://www.spotlightonlabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spotlight_logo_.pngPaul Becker2021-12-10 18:22:192021-12-11 15:46:01BUFFALO STARBUCKS STORE BECOMES FIRST IN CHAIN TO UNIONIZE
Citing “flagrant disregard” of fair election rules by Amazon, the National Labor Relations Board has ordered a new election at the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The NLRB found that Amazon improperly interfered with the first election earlier this year.
NLRB Atlanta region director Lisa Y. Henderson cited the company’s flagrant disregard” of agency procedures that guarantee free and fair elections and that they had “essentially hijacked the process.” The decision was a victory for the union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union which is waging a continued campaign to unionize Amazon warehouse workers.
Portside reprint of article by Jay Greene in Washington Post, 11/29.
More than 120 workers across 11 regions at the National Audubon Society voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in a string of official National Labor Relations Board elections last year, joining their colleagues in the organization’s national headquarters as members of CWA.
“Workers wanting to organize seem to be growing by the week,” writes Denver Post reporter Judith Kohler on the mushrooming activities of workers around the country seeking union representation. In the Denver area, she reports, 350 workers at Aurora HelloFresh are holding an NLRB mail ballot election that began Oct. 28 and will run through Nov. 22. Nine hundred HelloFresh workers in Richmond, Calif. are also balloting for union representation.
In Boulder, Colo. workers at Spruce Confections are organizing. If successful, it will be the first fast food service workers union in the Boulder area. Observed Robert Lindgren, Colorado AFL-CIO political and organizing director, it has become “a moment for workers.”
On Staten Island, New York City, four Amazon warehouses are reportedly organizing, undeterred by the defeat of a similar attempt at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. this past summer.
BUFFALO STARBUCKS STORE BECOMES FIRST IN CHAIN TO UNIONIZE
Labor Briefs, miscDespite the very small number of workers involved, the Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY made history Dec. 9 when it became the first one in the Starbucks chain to vote to unionize. The workers voted 19-8 to be represented by Workers United in an election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
Starbucks, the biggest coffee seller in the world, operates nearly 10,000 stores in the United States. It has waged a relentless war on union organizing attempts in Buffalo, closing some stores, and packing the others with new workers who, they hoped, would outvote the pro-union employees there. To counter the union organizing drive they sent in managers and executives to intimidate workers who have been complaining for years about the understaffing, chaotic conditions, restrictions on sick days, low pay and erratic hours.
Although the number of workers is small, the election is significant because it could mark a significant boost in the unionization of other Starbucks stores and among restaurant workers who are the least unionized workers in the country.
Robert Reich newsletter; NY Times, 12/9; Vox, 12/9; AP News, 12/9
NLRB ORDERS NEW ELECTION IN AMAZON WAREHOUSE VOTE
Labor BriefsCiting “flagrant disregard” of fair election rules by Amazon, the National Labor Relations Board has ordered a new election at the company’s Bessemer, Ala., warehouse. The NLRB found that Amazon improperly interfered with the first election earlier this year.
NLRB Atlanta region director Lisa Y. Henderson cited the company’s flagrant disregard” of agency procedures that guarantee free and fair elections and that they had “essentially hijacked the process.” The decision was a victory for the union, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union which is waging a continued campaign to unionize Amazon warehouse workers.
Portside reprint of article by Jay Greene in Washington Post, 11/29.
A FEW RECENT LABOR TIDBITS:
Labor BriefsMore than 120 workers across 11 regions at the National Audubon Society voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming a union affiliated with the Communications Workers of America in a string of official National Labor Relations Board elections last year, joining their colleagues in the organization’s national headquarters as members of CWA.
CWA-Union.org
“Workers wanting to organize seem to be growing by the week,” writes Denver Post reporter Judith Kohler on the mushrooming activities of workers around the country seeking union representation. In the Denver area, she reports, 350 workers at Aurora HelloFresh are holding an NLRB mail ballot election that began Oct. 28 and will run through Nov. 22. Nine hundred HelloFresh workers in Richmond, Calif. are also balloting for union representation.
In Boulder, Colo. workers at Spruce Confections are organizing. If successful, it will be the first fast food service workers union in the Boulder area. Observed Robert Lindgren, Colorado AFL-CIO political and organizing director, it has become “a moment for workers.”
On Staten Island, New York City, four Amazon warehouses are reportedly organizing, undeterred by the defeat of a similar attempt at the Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Ala. this past summer.
Denver Post, 11/2