Seattle Starbucks employees file to hold unionized elections

In a statement released Monday evening, Seattle employees said, “We are partnering with partners across the country who are organizing to make Starbucks a better company.

SEATTLE – Starbucks employees in Seattle have run unionized elections.

In a statement released Monday evening, Seattle employees said: “We stand with partners around the country who are organizing to make Starbucks a better company. Starbucks started here in Seattle 50 years ago and we intend to do the next 50 even better with a union. “

In a letter to Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson, union organizers said they see union formation as an opportunity to “broaden and challenge the perspective of what Starbucks is and can be.” Union formation is not a reaction to “specific guidelines, events or changes, but rather a commitment to the growth of the company and the quality of our work”.

“We see it as an opportunity to create a future that all partners can be proud of. By joining these principles now, Starbucks can prove itself a true partner in this mission and reshape the future for workers, one with more justice, equality and purpose, “the letter ends.

A message from our partners in Seattle who ran for union elections today: “We stand with partners across the country who are organizing to make Starbucks a better company. Starbucks started here in Seattle 50 years ago and we intend to make the next 50 even bigger with a union. ”Pic.twitter.com/knQP6fIXO9

– SBWorkersUnited (@SBWorkersUnited) December 21, 2021

The move comes after employees at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York made history by voting for a union 19-8. The votes were counted by a local representative of the National Labor Relations Board. This is the first Starbucks store in the country to vote for union representation.

Starbucks announced that it will be negotiating in good faith with workers who have agreed to unionize. In a letter to all US partners, Executive Vice President Rossann Williams said the company does not want union formation, but respects the legal process and wants to work with those in Buffalo who have voted for union representation.