Starbucks Workers File Third Decertification Petition In Three Weeks To Oust Union
In the last three weeks, Starbucks workers in Buffalo, Rochester and Manhattan have filed petitions for elections to oust Starbucks Workers United
Starbucks Workers United, the SEIU affiliate that has unionized over 300 Starbucks cafes across the U.S. over the past year, is facing its third decertification petition in as many weeks.
On Tuesday, according to a press release from the National Right to Work Foundation, Starbucks Roastery worker in Chelsea, Manhattan recently filed a petition for a vote on whether to remove NY-NJ Regional Joint Board, Workers United, an affiliate of Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
The petition, submitted with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), was filed by Kevin Caesar, who is receiving free legal aid from National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation staff attorneys.
“On May 9, 2023, Starbucks employee Caesar filed the decertification petition to obtain a vote on whether to remove the union, often called Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) from their workplace,” the Foundation stated.
Although this third decertification is a roastery in Manhattan, and not a Starbucks cafe, it comes only a day after Starbucks workers at a Rochester, New York cafe filed a decertification petition and less than three weeks after workers at a cafe in Buffalo, New York also filed a decertification petition.
Although these decertification petitions are more recent, they are not the first three decertification petitions to have been filed by Starbucks workers.
“Two other decertification petitions were lodged at cafes in Oklahoma in October 2022 and in Georgia in April 2023,” reported Bloomberg Law, “but they were withdrawn before an election date could be set.”
“With the petition filed, the NLRB should now promptly schedule a secret ballot election to determine whether a majority of workers want to end union officials’ power to impose a contract, including forced dues, on the workers,” the Foundation states in its release.
“No worker anywhere should be forced under so-called union ‘representation’ they oppose,” commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. “Starbucks workers around the nation that also fall victim to union tyranny should know they can turn to Foundation staff attorneys for assistance.”
According to the National Right to Work Foundation release, NLRB statistics show a 20% increase in decertification petitions last year versus 2021.