“Small revolution” in New York: More workers’ rights at Starbucks?

Trade unionists have traditionally had a harder time in the USA than in many European countries. Large corporations in particular usually vigorously resist employee representation – but not always with success.

There has never been anything like this at Starbucks: At the end of last year, employees at a branch in Buffalo, New York state, dared to organize themselves in a union for the first time. Previously unthinkable in the empire of the coffee chain. A step with exemplary character: These days, three Starbucks branches in New York City are also voting on the union issue. “It’s time we unionized,” says Owen Burnham, who works at the Astor Place branch in New York. “The pandemic has shown that we are systemically important. And that must also be reflected in our rights. We are also concerned about future employees. We don’t want jobs that you can’t make a living from.” In the United States, the majority of workers in a business – or indeed a Starbucks store – must agree to be represented by a union. A vote is now being taken in Owen’s branch – the outcome is unclear.

Union involvement can cost you the job

Because companies do everything to keep employees from saying “yes,” says Joshua Freeman from New York City University, an expert on the history of the US labor movement: “In the United States, an entire industry has specialized in it, law firms and Consulting firms. They do events on behalf of the employer that the employees have to attend,” Freeman explains. “Then they talk about the fact that membership is expensive and that the union might not be able to achieve anything at all. That there could be strikes that damage the company and people lose their jobs. But companies often simply fire the employees who stand up for Get unions involved.”

So did the Starbucks workers in Memphis who fought – in vain – for a union and are now unemployed. Despite this, employees at more than 100 Starbucks stores have decided to vote on the union issue. And they caused a lot of unrest at Starbucks headquarters in Seattle, according to Freeman. “Starbucks even sent longtime CEO Howard Schultz to Buffalo personally to persuade employees to vote ‘no’. Other locations have also been flooded with senior Starbucks executives.” The coffee chain giant has more than 9,000 branches in the USA and wants to prevent the so far small “union revolution” from becoming a conflagration.

“An interesting situation”

Even if the historian Freeman is not sure whether it is actually the beginning of a new labor movement in the USA, he finds the initiative of the Starbucks employees remarkable: “Traditionally, it was the strategy of the unions to always be on the stronghold to target. So big companies, big factories. But the companies were always good at fending it off.” Starbucks is also a big company, but each branch is small: “It’s like a thousand wasp stings for the company. And the unions only need a few dozen votes.” Of course, the bottom line is that so far there have only been a few employees, but, according to Freeman: “They make the company headquarters very concerned. That contradicts the previous experiences in the American trade union movement. In any case, it’s an interesting situation.”

In any case, there is great excitement as to how the votes will turn out. Also in the New York Starbucks branch where Owen Burnham works: “Of course we’re a bit scared, but we know we’re fighting on the right side. We are strong, we have our goals – and we have each other. And we’ll get through this together.”