Starbucks employee Gianna Reeve at a rally in Seattle on January 25, 2022 (AFP/Jason Redmond)
Employees at more than 50 Starbucks coffee shops are seeking to join the organization behind the bitter battle that led to the creation of the first union at a chain-operated establishment in the United States, announced on Monday Starbucks Workers United (SWU).
The union’s victory in December in two cafes in Buffalo, a city on the border with Canada, aroused enthusiasm.
Even before the announcement of the results, the employees of three other establishments in the Buffalo area as well as a café in Arizona had asked to be able to organize votes in order to join the SWU. The elections, by correspondence, are in progress there.
Other stores then joined the movement: 32 have already filed a case with the American agency in charge of labor law (NLRB) and 16 others plan to do so, detailed SWU on Monday, stressing that they are distributed in 19 states.
“Our movement is only growing,” the union commented on its Twitter account.
The organization makes this inventory on the first day of negotiations between the management and the employees of the two unionized stores in Buffalo.
In accordance with American law, the group has an obligation to “negotiate in good faith” but not necessarily to reach a salary agreement.
The company, which had mobilized great resources to try to dissuade the creation of a first union, ensures that it wants to “listen and learn” from its employees.
“The success of Starbucks – past, present and future – depends on how well we work with our partners,” a spokeswoman told AFP.
The group says it wants to respect the right of its employees to unionize and follow the rules of the NLRB but also to highlight direct relations with its employees.
“We look forward to bargaining for a contract we can all be proud of,” said Michelle Eisen, manager at Elmwood Cafe in Buffalo and one of the union leaders, in the statement.
“We also call on Starbucks to end its war on unions. You cannot sit at the bargaining table and bargain in good faith while actively and aggressively trying to discourage” other employees seeking to unionize through the country, she added.
© 2022 AFP
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