BUFFALO, N.Y. — The National Labor Relations Board has ruled in favor of the Starbucks Workers United to count the ballots cast in the union election, dismissing a request from Starbucks to stop the ongoing vote.
On Tuesday, Starbucks Workers United announced they won an NLRB ruling on its vote. Starbucks had attempted to impound the ballots already cast and requested the NLRB stop the vote entirely.
The NLRB dismissed Starbucks complaint Tuesday and approved the counting of the ballots.
“Once again Starbucks tried to stop partners from voting, and once again they failed. At this point the company has strayed so far from its original values it’s hard to recognize the company I started with. This is exactly why we need a union – so our voices can be heard and we can work to make Starbucks the company we used to love,” said Michelle Eisen, a barista at the Elmwood Starbucks.
Ian Hayes, an attorney working with the union, said “From the day partners filed the first NLRB petitions to hold union elections, Starbucks has shown it has no shame and will sink to any depth to try to break partners’ momentum, sow confusion, and interfere with partners’ right to a fair election. The company has failed every step of the way because the legal positions it has taken are intellectually vacant, and today’s decision by the NLRB is the latest proof of that.”
The deadline for partners who are eligible to vote is December 8. The votes will be counted on December 9 at 1 p.m. by video conference.
The Elmwood Avenue, Camp Road, and Genesee Street locations are the ones working to become the first unionized Starbucks locations out of the company's over 8,000 locations.