Starbucks workers vote to unionize in Va., Md. locations

Starbucks workers at the Old Keene Mill location in Springfield, Virginia, and the Shipley’s Grant location in Ellicott City, Maryland, have voted to join Starbucks Workers United, among almost a dozen other Starbucks locations in the D.C. metro that have now unionized or filed to.

Workers at another Starbucks location in Springfield, at Huntsman Square, rejected union efforts two years ago.

The Shipley’s Grant store is the second Starbucks in Ellicott City to vote to unionize.

Workers United said there have been more than 20 union wins at Starbucks stores in the past month, with more than 420 stores having successfully unionized since 2021. That is still a small fraction of the more than 17,000 U.S. Starbucks stores.

Voting in favor of unionizing does not automatically mean union protections. Starbucks, thus far, has not reached labor agreements with Workers United.

In February, Starbucks and Workers United agreed to begin talks about company-wide labor agreements, a thawing in relations between the two sides. Starbucks has said it is restarting the talks with a goal of ratifying agreements sometime in 2024.

“We respect the rights of our partners to organize and bargain collectively, and we are eager to reach ratified agreements in 2024 for represented stores.” Starbucks said in an emailed statement.

Initial face-to-face talks between Starbucks and Workers United officials are scheduled for next week.

One hurdle will be the more than 100 pending charges against Starbucks filed with the National Labor Relations Board over treatment of employees at stores that have voted to unionize, including unfair labor practice complaints and labor law violations.

Other local Starbucks that have voted to unionize or filed to vote include stores in Falls Church, Leesburg, Sterling, Arlington and Ashburn in Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.

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