Newberry Starbucks Workers File For Union Elections In Landmark Wave of Filing

Newberry Workers Join a National Movement

Workers at a Starbucks store in Newberry, South Carolina filed a petition on Tuesday for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), becoming one of 18 stores nationwide to do so in a single day.

This push for unionization comes on the heels of the second round of national bargaining between Starbucks and its employees, where both parties have reportedly made significant strides toward establishing a framework for store contracts.

Reasons For Joining the Union

The Newberry employees are joining a movement which has already amassed over 10,500 baristas who are demanding respect, livable wages, racial and gender equality, and fair scheduling within the workspace.

“We do everything together here, so fighting for this, for a company that can do better for us, we do it together!”, said a Newberry store shift lead about their collective decision to join the union movement.

Open Letter to Starbucks CEO

An open letter was collectively written by workers from all 18 stores and addressed to the Starbucks’ Laxman Narasimhan. The letter emphasized solidarity among the workers across different stores and highlighted the necessity of unionizing to address workplace concerns.

Diverse Geography of Unionizing Stores

Starbucks workers in a numerous cities filed for union elections. This included stores in Burbank in California, Miami in Florida, Bloomington in Indiana, Brighton in Massachusetts, Riverdale Park in Maryland, Jackson in Mississippi, Troy Hills in New Jersey, and many more.

Historic Organizing Campaign

Ever since Starbucks employees first started forming unions in 2021, more than 440 Starbucks stores have held successful union elections with the NLRB across 43 states and the District of Columbia.

This organizing campaign holds historical importance as it’s driven by employees, aiming for peer-to-peer organizing. Numerous victories have been secured nationwide via this campaign, as more and more employees join the growing union movement.