Another Starbucks Unionizes in Western New York

Buffalo made history when the first Starbucks in the country unionized here late last year. Now, another location in Western New York has voted to join their ranks.

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Starbucks made history in Buffalo back in December of 2021 when the Elmwood Avenue location voted to unionize by a vote of 19-8, becoming the first Starbucks in the entire nation to unionize. Starbucks has over 235,000 employees that work at their over 8,500 locations across the country, and none had ever been part of a union until the Buffalo store broke the mold.

Since then, there have been six other Western New York Starbucks locations that have unionized. Now, one more joins the party.

On Monday, Starbucks Workers United announced that the Transit Commons store had voted 11-1 in the union election. This pushed the total of unionized stores in Western New York to eight.

The store on Transit road has been trying to unionize since last year but hasn't been able to hold an election, due to union-busting tactics. The announcement of the 8th unionized Starbucks comes on the heels of the news that Starbucks and the National Labor Relations Board head to court to battle it out over 200 violations of labor law here in Western New York.

The Starbucks news keeps on coming, as @SBWorkersUnited also announced that the Delaware and Chippewa store is on strike, to protest the alleged unfair labor practices of the company.

The Starbucks labor union is planning on holding re-elections for the Walden and Anderson locations this coming Friday.