Starbucks workers in Seattle won their union with a unanimous vote on Tuesday, becoming the first store in the company’s hometown to form a union in several decades.
“We are so excited to win our union unanimously and for what this means for the national movement. Our victory is going to make other Starbucks partners confident and show that we can organize Starbucks,” said Sydney Durkin, a shift supervisor at Broadway and Denny. “This is what happens when workers stand together and fight together.”
Workers say that while the company has been using aggressive union-busting tactics in other parts of the country, it has treated pro-union employees in Seattle with much more respect. While the company tried to union bust by singling out individual workers during the first weeks of their campaign, the union busting stopped abruptly after a month, which was “really jarring,” said Rachel Ybarra, a barista at Broadway and Denny.
Ybarra added that it was “disgusting” that the company turned other stores into a “warzone” while giving Seattle organizers special treatment.