Starbucks Workers Just Had Their Second Union Vote Victory

Baristas at an upstate New York Starbucks just became the second store to unionize.

The National Labor Relations Board certified the results of last month’s election for the Genesee Street store in Buffalo, NY.

Results at that coffee shop were inconclusive after fifteen workers voted in favor of unionizing, while 9 voted against and seven ballots were challenged, delaying the results.

This week an acting regional director for the NLRB ruled against the inclusion of seven unopened ballots, whose eligibility had been contested, giving the union with another win by a vote of 15 to 9.

“While most of the world saw us win on December 9th, today is a special day — today we put an end to Starbucks’ delay attempts and formed our union at the Genesee Starbucks,” Lexi Rizzo, a shift supervisor at the location, said to Yahoo Finance.

“Finally, the partners feel we have a voice at our workplace — this is an emotional day for all partners here who have fought so hard to make our voices heard in the work we do,” the statement added.

“Now we’re asking the same thing Elmwood is asking — we want a fair contract and most importantly we demand that Starbucks stop their union busting in Buffalo and across the nation immediately. No other partners should have to endure what we went through to have a voice on the job.”

Both stores that have unionized are in the Buffalo area.

Starbucks now has the option to file an appeal within the next 10 days, which would formally ask NLRB members in Washington review the ruling made by the regional director.

A Starbucks spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that they are evaluating their options in terms of whether or not they will appeal.

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