Two Starbucks Stores in Boston Area Unanimously Secure Union Wins, the First in Massachusetts
Two Starbucks stores in the Boston area won union elections Monday, becoming the first unionized locations in the state.
Joined by union organizers and supporters from around the state, baristas from Starbucks locations in Coolidge Corner and Allston erupted in cheers and embraced one another as election results were announced by an official from the National Labor Relations Board: 14-0 in Brookline and 16-0 in Allston.
The next step for the new union affiliated with Workers United is negotiating contracts with Starbucks management. The baristas are seeking higher wages, more say in everyday operations and higher staffing levels.
“This victory is all of ours collectively — not just our stores, but our community and every worker here and around the world,” Tyler Daguerre, a barista at the Brookline location, told a crowd of around 50 gathered in the basement of the Brookline Booksmith, which has had a union since its origins in the 1960s. “This is a sign that we’re not going to take corporate greed. This is us standing up and fighting back.
Over the last six months, more than 200 Starbucks locations have moved to form unions across the country, including 15 in Massachusetts, out of roughly 9,000 company-owned stores nationwide. Monday’s election marks the 18th and 19th union victories in the country, including one contested election in Kansas.
Starbucks has contested the election process and election results, and has been accused of union-busting tactics by pro-union employees and their representation at the Workers United union. Starbucks has repeatedly denied these accusations.
“From the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we do not want a union between us as partners, and that conviction has not changed,” a Starbucks spokesperson told GBH News in an email. “However, we have also said that we respect the legal process.”
Last week, U.S. labor officials deemed the firing of seven pro-union employees at a Starbucks location in Memphis to be illegal and threatened to file a legal complaint for unfair labor practices if a settlement is not reached.
At a virtual town hall with employees earlier this week, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz described the sweeping union movement as “companies being assaulted in many ways by the threat of unionization,” describing unions as “an outside organization trying to take our people.” During a Q&A tour at locations across the country, Schultz allegedly asked a barista in California, “If you hate Starbucks so much, why don’t you go somewhere else?”
Maria Suevo, a barista at the Coolidge Corner location, directly addressed Schultz’s comment following the vote Monday.
“I find that so insulting,” Suevo said. “We are a family. I ride for these people. I’d risk my career for these people. Our regulars are beloved to me, and I don’t want to leave that. So no, don’t ever say I hate Starbucks. We don’t hate Starbucks, we are just trying to support one another, uplift each other and build a better future for each other.”
Before taking a job at the Allston location two years ago, Sierra Sorrentino worked at three other Starbucks locations in California, her home state.
“I’ve been working at Starbucks for four years now, and I just love the family that I have there. Every store that I’ve worked at has just been filled with some of the most amazing people that I’ve ever met,” Sorrentino said. “Maybe we don’t necessarily agree or align with what corporate thinks of us, but it’s hard to leave something when you’ve created bonds like that, and I think we’ve all really anchored each other to stay and fight instead of just quitting and giving up.”
Four more stores in Watertown, Cleveland Circle, Lower Allston and Mission Hill are scheduled to hold union elections May 3 under the auspices of the National Labor Relations Board.
Tori Bedford @tori_bedford
Tori Bedford (she/her/hers) covers the Boston neighborhoods of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan for the GBH News Dorchester Bureau.