Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A month after two area Starbucks stores' employees voted to unionize, ballots have been mailed out to three more Western New York locations, and local organizers say the movement has been expanding locally and across the country.
Employees at the Depew location, Sheridan and Bailey in Amherst and Anderson and Walden in Cheektowaga, will soon receive ballots in the mail. Organizing committee member Casey Moore compares it to a major primary day. "It's just a really incredibly exciting day. I keep saying it's like the Super Tuesday, but super Monday of Starbucks store unionizing," says Moore. She notes a number of other locations waited until Monday because they wanted to support the first day of bargaining at Elmwood and Genesee Street stores.
Moore says the Walden and Anderson location have been waiting for a while. "Walden Anderson was originally filed their union petition petition about a week or so after the first three stores, but unfortunately, because of the NLRB process, they had to withdraw their petition because if they didn't withdraw, they would have held back to three other stores," explains Moore.
Moore says the movement is growing." Today alone, we had 16 stores filed for elections and one other store go public with their, with their intention to organize. And that was today alone, which brings up to over 50 stores that are filed nationally, simply one and only about a month ago," says Moore, including the downtown Buffalo location and Delaware and Chippewa.
RJ Rebmann works at the Starbucks on Genesee and knows what a union shop is like. "I'm feeling pretty good about that. And I'm really hopeful that the other stores in a district that a filed can have a similar outcome. Because I know people are really, really excited to finally be recognized as a union. And, you know, there's been a lot of really hard work that went into this, despite the anti union actions of the company," says Rebmann. He notes working conditions have not instantly improved. "We're struggling with, with schedules and, you know, different staffing related issues. We haven't got a contract yet," explains Rebmann.
Rebmann says one particular issue he had was with COVID. "I was having a lot of problems with the way that the company was handling COVID in the stores, and that there was a lot of outbreaks that were happening and a lot of partners were concerned about safety. So I think that's something that we've seen change a little bit lately and something that I hope we can continue to see improving," says Rebmann. "After the Elmwood walkout, that the partners there were demanding that Starbucks, you know, close their store, and because of all the COVID cases that was having another health concern, and they were demanding that even if you were vaccinated, that you get paid to self isolate if you were exposed to COVID. And right after that Starbucks announced that policies so again, we have no doubt that that was a result from our efforts here in Buffalo," adds Moore.
[shortcode-inline-related expand="1" link="/wben/news/local/starbucks-workers-react-to-mixed-result" headline=""We've done it." Starbucks workers react to mixed result" image="/media-library/image.jpg?id=63623222"]Moore notes there has been hesitation about unionizing. "A lot of these stories like the camp road and the Genesee street stores, they had, basically a not unanimous support at their store. And then Starbucks came in with, you know, intense and aggressive union busting from, you know, having hundreds of managers shipped in around the country, to our stores, telling people pulling them one on one officers telling them that they would be heartbroken if they voted yes, for the Union. They've threatened people and texted people saying, you don't want to vote yes, for a union because that could impact your benefits and you could lose the ability to transfer stores. So Starbucks is essentially leaving a misinformation and a psychological warfare against partners and really doing everything that they can try to convince people to vote no" explains Moore.
The movement has encouraged Peter DeJesus of the WNY Area Federation of Labor. "It's kind of a reckoning of this younger generation as to the values of union organizing," says DeJesus. "I think it's changing the conversation around what organizing looks like in the you know, in the 21st century, these young workers have brought a certain energy a certain pizzazz back to the labor movement that has been missing for a while."
DeJesus says the fight is far from over. "Getting that right to unionize is one step in the process, the much harder step is actually going to the first contract. So you know, they continue to stay strong, they continue to fight, and they're helping to build across the country. It's not just focusing here in Western New York, they're lending, you know, a hand to support to two other Starbucks across the country. So that's, that's invigorating. And that's encouraging, I think, for the labor movement as a whole," notes DeJesus.
Votes will be counted February 23rd.
