(ROCHESTER, NEW YORK) – The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has counted the ballots for Starbucks’ Brighton, Monroe and Clover and Mount Hope stores in Rochester and the Delaware Avenue-Chippewa store in Downtown Buffalo - with all three Going Union after the votes were tallied.  In fact, the Delaware-Chippewa store won their Union in a landslide vote of 18-to-1, while the Brighton store won 10-to-3.  The Mount Hope store won 13-to-11. 

The NLRB has now counted the ballots of 14 stores in four states, with 13 of those stores voting Yes to the Starbuck Workers’ Union.

With these new victories, the stores that have won the vote count include: Seven stores in Buffalo, where what has now become a country-wide Unionization effort originally started; Starbucks’ Flagship Roastery in New York City; Two stores in Mesa, Arizona; One store in Seattle, Washington; and another in Knoxville, Tennessee.

There are now over 180 stores that have filed union petitions across 29 states with the Starbucks Workers United Movement. 

“We are overjoyed.  This is what it’s all about.  Partners truly becoming partners.  Throughout this process there has been nothing I’ve come to appreciate more than every Partner standing next to me, every Partner so courageously advocating for themselves,” Brighton, Monroe and Clover Union Organizer Hayleigh Fagan said.

“I am so proud of every single Partner that decided it was our time to have a say and actively took the chance to make that happen.  It hasn’t been easy and it might not get easier right away, but it’s worth it and we are so excited and proud to be your Unionized Starbucks,” she said.

Emma Brower, a Union Organizer for Mount Hope, said: “(This) marks a great victory for the Starbucks Workers of Rochester, made possible by the bravery and courage of all those Workers who stood up to Starbucks management and voted for the Union to demand an equal say in their workplace.  We thank our comrades in Buffalo for starting this movement and hope our victory will help to inspire and strengthen the continued Unionization movement across the county.”

In Buffalo, Rose Doherty, a Barista employed at the Delaware-Chippewa store, said: “Starbucks has continuously used our store for their Union-Busting media.  They stay in the hotels across from our store that none of us can afford.  They send the President of Starbucks North America to yell at closing shifts for not calling in partners to help with an under scheduled closing.  Starbucks has continuously tried to make our store an uncomfortable and uncaring place, but we fought through it as Partners and family.  We are ecstatic at our victory today, but we wish that we didn’t have to go through this, and call on Starbucks to sign the fair election principles so no other store has to go through the heinous treatment we endured.”

These victories have come despite Starbucks’ blatant Union-Busting across the U.S. and despite the company’s refusal to allow Partners to exercise their right to vote free of fear and intimidation.

Workers have consistently asked former Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, and now Interim CEO Howard Schultz, to sign the Fair Elections Principles - but have yet to receive a response.