Starbucks Baristas in Seal Beach File for Union Election, Joining Workers at 21 Stores For Campaign’s Largest Single-Day Filing

SEAL BEACH — Workers at the Seal Beach and St. Cloud Starbucks filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board or NLRB to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. They were joined by baristas announcing they too are seeking union elections today at 21 Starbucks stores in 14 states during the largest single-day of filing since the campaign began in 2021.

Workers from the 21 stores co-authored a letter to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan to announce their organizing push. 

“Across the country management is cutting hours, writing inconsistent and unreliable schedules, and placing more and more work on fewer and fewer partners,” the workers wrote. “We ‘partners’ demand a say. We are the face of Starbucks. As employees, we deserve the same respect and dignity as the CEO.” 

The Seal Beach & St. Cloud partners join the growing national movement of more than 9,500 union baristas at nearly 400 union stores, organizing to better their working conditions, including living wages, fair scheduling and policies that respond to discrimination and harassment on the job. The historic campaign, one of the most successful in decades, hinges on peer-to-peer organizing led by workers, for workers — and has won elections consistently in stores nationwide.

“I’m voting to unionize because we deserve consistent work hours and a place that values baristas’ input on better working conditions. When suggestions or concerns have been brought to Starbucks management, little or no action has been taken in the past to resolve or value our opinion. Additionally, they’ve been able to cut our hours at their own discretion, causing many partners to jeopardize their qualifications to access Starbucks benefits, or worse, lose necessary wages to survive.,” said Damian Velazquez, a shift supervisor of 3 years and organizer at the Seal Beach & St. Cloud location.

Workers from the following Starbucks stores filed for union elections Feb. 20:

• Rodney Parham, Little Rock, AR
• Highway 4 and Hillcrest, Antioch, CA
• San Pedro Square, San Jose, CA
• Seal Beach & St. Cloud, Seal Beach, CA
• Jewell and Wadsworth, Lakewood, CO
• 17th and Hover, Longmont, CO
• Madison & Wells, Chicago, IL
• 58th & Western, Chicago, IL
• I-10 & HWY 108, Sulfur, LA
• Washington and Demers, Grand Forks, ND
• Garden City, Long Island, NY
• Old Westbury, Long Island, NY
• 4th Ave & 11th St, Park Slope, NY
• McCarran & Lakeside, Reno, NV
• Grove City, Columbus, OH
• Loop 288 & I-35, Denton, TX
• Kimball Junction, Kimball Junction, UT
• I-81 & Roanoke St, Christiansburg, VA
• 164th & Bothell Hwy, Mill Creek, WA
• Rimrock & Beltline, Madison, WI
• Monona & Broadway, Monona, WI

The mass filing was part of ongoing grassroots efforts by Starbucks workers who are organizing and taking direct action, demanding Starbucks end its illegal union-busting campaign and bargain a contract in good faith. In more than 50 separate decisions, federal administrative law judges have found that Starbucks has committed more than 400 violations of federal labor law, including dozens of unlawful firings, refusal to bargain, and denying benefits and wage increases to union members that are offered at non-union stores. 

Since December 2021, nearly 400 Starbucks stores in 42 states and the District of Columbia have successfully unionized — more than any other company in the 21st Century.