Watch workers in Buffalo excitedly celebrate becoming the nation's first unionized Starbucks
Starbucks workers at a coffee shop in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize on Thursday, becoming the first of the chain's company-owned stores to successfully organize, The Buffalo News reports.
The vote to unionize won by a 19-8 margin, reports CNN Business, and came after a "major" campaign by the company to convince workers they would be better off voting against union representation. Two other Starbucks stores in Buffalo also voted — one location voted against unionizing, and the third location's votes are still being tallied, writes The Associated Press.
The organizing campaign was closely watched nationally, writes Buffalo News, because it could create a new template for workers at other locations, and even other major chains, to advocate for higher pay and other improvements. The store that voted in favor of unionizing will now move into the certification process.
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Watching the vote and its results via Zoom, the shop's workers and other supporters of the union effort erupted into cheers and jumped up and down upon learning they had succeeded. Watch the moment below, and read more about the implications of the vote at CNN Business.
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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
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