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https://theconversation.com/grassroots-mojo-and-4-other-reasons-starbucks-workers-have-been-so-successful-unionizing-184220>
"Starbucks Workers United won its 100th election on May 27, 2022 – fittingly,
in Seattle, the company’s hometown. And the union has notched another 46
victories in the just over two weeks since then. It comes six months after
organizers won their first two union victories, in Buffalo, New. York.
Although each unionized workplace is small, with a couple dozen employees
apiece, the campaign is already, by my reckoning, one of the most successful
unionizing efforts in recent U.S. history, with victories in 28 states. Over
100 additional Starbucks outlets have petitioned to unionize and are awaiting
elections in the coming days and weeks, and several other votes are awaiting
resolution. Starbucks has strongly opposed the campaign, and the union has lost
about 22 elections so far.
The overwhelming success of the Starbucks labor organizing efforts is inspiring
workers at other retailers, such as Amazon, REI, Apple and Trader Joe’s, which
have all seen an increase in organizing activity or even their first unions.
When the Starbucks unionizing movement was in its infancy, few observers
believed that the campaign could spread so quickly or win so many elections,
often by huge margins. Indeed, a few years ago, most union officials would have
thought it impossible to organize a young and often transient low-wage service
sector workforce spread across almost 9,000 small stores. And most union drives
in recent decades, such as at Walmart and FedEx, have failed.
So why has the Starbucks campaign been so much more successful?
As a scholar who has studied corporate opposition to unions for 20 years, I
believe there are five key reasons."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
