More Starbucks across the country deciding to unionize

SEATTLE — More Starbucks locations across the country are deciding to unionize.

Earlier this week, a Starbucks in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood became the first location in Seattle to unionize, and on Wednesday, another store in Boston filed for an election.

Stores are taking this step as the company’s former CEO, Howard Schultz, is about to return to lead the company on April 4.

He is coming back at a rocky time for the company. There was a protest at the company headquarters in February over unionization and the growing push is among the challenges Schultz will face.

The Capitol Hill Starbucks joins six other company-owned stores around the country that have had its employees voting to unionize under the umbrella of Starbucks Workers United.

Six other Seattle Starbucks locations have filed for union elections, including the flagship Reserve Roastery on Capitol Hill.

At the recent Starbucks shareholders meeting, a board chair with the company said company leaders are listening to feedback about labor and unionization and said the company was committed to finding new ways to enhance and elevate the “partner experience.”

Starbucks Workers United garnered public attention last December when workers first voted to unionize at a store in Buffalo, New York.

The group said that since then, more than 150 stores around the country have filed for union elections.

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