Employees of at least one Starbucks cafe in the northern United States voted in favor of setting up a union in the store, which is the first time in the history of the well-known chain.
With voices of joy and hugs they welcomed the announcement of the results in the room where they had gathered today.
“The Starbucks chain did everything it could to make it almost impossible,” said Casey Moore, an employee who pioneered the union. “Despite the odds, we won by almost double the votes. “After all that we went through, victory is the most incredible feeling in the world.”
The counting of workers’ votes in two other cafes in Buffalo continues.
Earlier today, in the cafeteria, there was no indication that such a historic vote was taking place. About a dozen employees were just hastily preparing customer orders. “I see them every morning, it’s part of their daily routine and it’s normal for them to ask for a decent salary,” said 60-year-old lawyer Steve Boyd as he left the café. If they need a union to get better working conditions, “then, I support them,” he added.
Like the attempt to form a union at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama last spring, the Starbucks workers’ campaign drew attention beyond the streets of Buffalo, New York. It reflects the grievances of workers who are determined to fight at a time when labor market dynamics favor them, said Cedric de Leon, a labor expert at the University of Amherst in Massachusetts. As many employers find it difficult to find employees, “the bargaining power of employees is very high at this time,” he explained. This is shown by the organization of strikes, such as the one of 10,000 workers in the tractor manufacturing company John Deere for five weeks or by the resignations, after 4.2 million Americans decided to leave their jobs in October.
When he was hired by Starbucks in May, 24-year-old Will Westlake was delighted to work for a group that often boasts of its progressive values ​​and generally offers better working conditions than other coffee chains. “But when I started, I realized that this was not necessarily the case,” he told AFP. Westlake was “shocked” when he found out that those who worked longer than him earned a little more money, but he also complained about the deadly pace of work. “We sell drinks for eight, nine dollars, every 30 seconds, all day, but the company does not catch up with demand,” he said, hiring more employees.
In this context, “one can resign or, if dependent on work, try to change things by founding a union,” he stressed.
The determination of the employees to form a union intensified when the company showed resistance to their intentions. A few weeks after the union mobilization began, the group announced a series of measures, such as raising the minimum wage or taking into account the seniority of the workers. At the same time, however, he tried to persuade them to vote “no”, sending many of his executives to the area.
The company assures that it is not against the unions but considers that the working conditions and the advantages it offers do not justify the establishment of an “intermediary” body between the employees and the management.
“If the company is so concerned about setting up a union in three of the approximately 9,000 cafes it manages across the country, it could be because it could cause a wave of (unionization) within it,” said Cedric de Leon.
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