Workers hoping to unionize Starbucks stores in the U.S. have won a preliminary victory before the National Labor Relations Board.
In a ruling issued Thursday, the board said employees at three separate Starbucks stores in Buffalo, New York, can hold union elections in November. The board rejected Starbucks' attempt to hold a single vote with 20 stores in the region.
If the effort is successful, the stores would be the first of Starbucks’ 8,000 company-owned U.S. stores to unionize. The Seattle coffee giant opposes the unionization effort.
Starbucks said Thursday evening that it had just received the ruling and was evaluating its options. The company reported record fiscal fourth quarter revenue of $8.1 billion earlier Thursday and had announced a $1 billion effort to raise U.S. workers' pay.
“Our storied success has come from our working directly together as partners, without a third party between us,” Starbucks said Thursday in a statement. “We remain focused on supporting our partners as well as maintaining open, transparent and direct conversations throughout the process.”
The NLRB said the union elections will be held by mail-in ballot between Nov. 10 and Dec. 8. The NLRB will count the ballots on Dec. 9.
“It's been disappointing to see Starbucks working overtime to try to stop us from organizing, but today's decision is a big win and soon we're going to have an even bigger victory when we vote our union in,” said Michelle Eisen, an 11-year veteran of Starbucks in Buffalo and a member of Starbucks Workers United, the union organizing group.
