Workers at the Mesa, AZ Starbucks, located at Powers and Baseline Roads, overwhelmingly voted to unionize, choosing Workers United, which is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, as its collective bargaining representative. The 25-3 vote in favor of unionizing came after Starbucks’ objections delayed an initial vote in February. The Mesa location is the third unionized Starbucks store in the United States, in addition to two stores that unionized last fall in Buffalo, NY. 

Workers United petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold an election in Mesa in November 2021, about two months after it filed petitions at three stores in Buffalo, NY. Since then, Workers United has filed petitions with the NLRB to hold elections at more than 100 other Starbucks stores, with many filings occurring recently. So far, the NLRB has approved elections to occur in three other Buffalo stores, another Arizona store, and stores in Seattle, WA, and Tennessee.

Throughout the elections to date, Workers United has accused Starbucks of delaying votes by claiming that the union should be unionizing across entire markets instead of at individual stores. The NLRB has already rejected Starbucks’ claims to this effect twice, most recently in a published decision. See Starbucks Corporation and Workers United, 371 NLRB No. 71 (Feb. 23, 2022).  

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