New York’s Starbucks Roastery Unionizes

The New York Starbucks Roastery store. Courtesy of Starbucks

Starbucks’ (Seattle) New York City Reserve Roastery location voted in favor of forming a union this past Friday, CNBC reports. The final vote was 46 in favor and 36 opposed.

Recently the National Labor Relations Board complained that Starbucks had retaliated against two employees in Phoenix who were interested in organizing a union. The NLRB also claims the retailer has “engaged in union busting” in its stores which have filed for union elections, and Starbucks denies the allegations. NLRB will soon be responsible for negotiating a contract with Starbucks.

Mellody Hobson, Starbucks’ Chair, said during an annual shareholders meeting, “We are also negotiating in good faith, and we want a constructive relationship with the union.”

The Roastery is the ninth company-owned location that has unionized. Starbucks operates roughly 9000 locations across the U.S.

VMSD Staff

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