Starbucks Union Campaign's Streak of Election Wins Ends With A Loss In Virginia

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- Starbucks shift supervisor Gailyn Berg and Tim Swicord, barista.
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- NPR, April 14, 2022. Ed.

A streak of unionizing at Starbucks has been broken, with workers at a store in Springfield, Virginia, voting against the union. The loss follows four unanimous wins for the union earlier this week at stores in Boston, Pittsburgh, and Eugene, Oregon. Twenty Starbucks stores have now unionized. Around 220 Starbucks stores have sought elections, with more added every day. More votes will be counted next week.

In Springfield, Starbucks shift supervisor Gailyn Berg who led the union campaign, said Starbucks' anti-union messaging, including warnings about what could happen if the store voted to unionize, changed votes. "We weren't going to be able to get raises in the next coming months. We're not going to be able to work at other stores. Definitely our partners believe that," Berg said just after the tally was announced.

Since his return to Starbucks last week as interim CEO, Howard Schultz has appealed to employees, known as partners at Starbucks, to trust him- not a union- to make things right for them. "My job in coming back to Starbucks is to ensure the fact that we... reimagine a new Starbucks with our partners at the center of it all, as a pro-partner company, as a company that does not need someone in between us & our people," Schultz told employees at a town-hall style meeting on his first day back. He has said that some- not all- of the worker organizers have intentionally & aggressively sown divisions within the company while "attempting to sell a very different view of what Starbucks should be."

He's also noted the low turnout at some of the store elections. Starbucks stores typically have 20 or 30-some workers, and in some of the elections, half or fewer than half have voted. That was not the case in Springfield, where all 19 employees at the store voted. The final tally was 10 to 8 against the union. One ballot was voided. - Starbucks workers were originally drawn to the company because of its culture - Starbucks has long prided itself on being a standout employer. Indeed, the generous benefits and socially progressive culture are a big part of what drew Berg and their colleagues Tim Swicord, Megan Gaydos and Claire Picciano to find jobs with the company...
https://www.npr.org/2022/04/14/1091589719/starbucks-union-drive-workers-united-howard-schultz-petition-vote-organizing

https://www.opb.org/article/2022/04/14/starbucks-union-streak-of-election-wins-ends-with-loss-in-virginia/