Brookline Starbucks Employees Move To Unionize After NY Win

BROOKLINE, MA — Employees at two local Starbucks locations, including the cafés on Harvard Street in Brookline and Commonwealth Avenue in Allston, filed paperwork to unionize Monday, less than a week after the chain’s baristas in Buffalo, New York became the first in the country to successfully form a union of their own.

GBH News reported at least 36 of around 47 employees at locations in Brookline and Allston signed cards indicating they want to form a union, according to organizers working with the Workers United Labor Union, the same organization involved in the unionizing efforts at three locations in Buffalo.

"We are organizing a union in Boston because we believe that this is the best way to contribute meaningfully to our partnership with the company,” employees wrote in a letter to Starbucks president and CEO Kevin Johnson . "We want to ensure that our voices are heard and that we have equal power to affect positive change for our store, district, and company."

Although employees say have not received a response from the company, Johnson released a letter last week about how "there is only one Starbucks.”

"So, what can you expect going forward?” he said. "First, we will work each day to exceed the expectations of our partners as you, in turn, create that great Starbucks Experience for our customers. Second, we will always be transparent and authentic – even when we need to have tough conversations. And finally, you can trust that while we are on this journey together, we will always be one Starbucks, grounded in the belief that partners are the heartbeat of this company.”

Last month, the Buffalo organizers released a statement alleging that Starbucks sent in an anti-union task force to try to stop organizing efforts in the city.

In response to a request for comment, a Starbucks spokesperson pointed Patch to last week's letter and said they have no further updates at this time.