Periodically, I release a report on the Starbucks unionization drive (May 2022, June 2022, July 2022). In past reports, I have relied upon data from the NLRB and More Perfect Union. But in preparing this report, I found that the NLRB data has fully caught up with the More Perfect Union data and so I am relying solely on the NLRB data.
Union Elections and ULP Charges
The Starbucks Union has been filing a steady stream of unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks starting around the end of March of this year. On the average month between April and September, the union filed 43 ULP charges, more than one per day. The charges generally allege that Starbucks has engaged in retaliation against workers attempting to unionize.
In October, the Starbucks Union filed 95 ULP charges against Starbucks, more than three per day.
By the end of October, the Starbucks Union had filed 368 union election petitions. The NLRB had conducted 322 such elections, with the union winning 260 of them, which is an 81 percent win rate. The average unit size at a unionized Starbucks store is 26 workers, meaning that the Starbucks Union currently covers around 6,775 workers.
Across the 322 elections, the Starbucks Union has won 72 percent of the votes cast. Although the rate of election filings and election victories has slowed down, the win rate for elections that are run has held steady at 70 to 80 percent.
At present, there are 19 open election petitions for Starbucks locations that the NLRB has not yet run an election for. Based on the win rate and average unit sizes of prior elections, these 19 elections will result in about 15 union victories and 400 additional unionized Starbucks workers. Adding these elections and workers to the totals above brings the current likely size of the Starbucks Union to 7,175 workers across 275 Starbucks locations.
The Starbucks Union led a spike in union election filings earlier this year. Although election filings remain elevated relative to 2021, the decline in both Starbucks and non-Starbucks election filings has pushed the election-filing trend back down.
Locations
By the end of October, the Starbucks Union had won elections in 171 cities across 35 states.
| City | Unionized Starbucks Stores |
| Portland, OR | 10 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | 9 |
| Seattle, WA | 9 |
| Chicago, IL | 7 |
| Eugene, OR | 7 |
| Philadelphia, PA | 6 |
| Richmond, VA | 6 |
| Ann Arbor, MI | 5 |
| Boston, MA | 4 |
| San Antonio, TX | 4 |
| Denver, CO | 4 |
| Albany, NY | 3 |
| Los Angeles, CA | 3 |
| Cleveland, OH | 3 |
| St. Louis, MO | 3 |
| Amherst, NY | 3 |
| Ithaca, NY | 3 |
| Louisville, KY | 2 |
| Bellingham, WA | 2 |
| Atlanta, GA | 2 |
| Brooklyn, NY | 2 |
| Anaheim, CA | 2 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | 2 |
| Austin, TX | 2 |
| Colorado Springs, CO | 2 |
| Brookline, MA | 2 |
| Beaverton, OR | 2 |
| Knoxville, TN | 2 |
| Tallahassee, FL | 2 |
| Santa Cruz, CA | 2 |
| Jacksonville, FL | 2 |
| New York, NY | 2 |
| Rochester, NY | 2 |
| Buffalo, NY | 2 |
| Mesa, AZ | 2 |
| Scottsboro, AL | 1 |
| Birmingham, AL | 1 |
| Tucson, AZ | 1 |
| Phoenix, AZ | 1 |
| Avondale, AZ | 1 |
| Santa Clara, CA | 1 |
| Santa Maria, CA | 1 |
| Berkeley, CA | 1 |
| San Francisco, CA | 1 |
| Riverside, CA | 1 |
| Barstow, CA | 1 |
| Huntington Beach, CA | 1 |
| La Quinta, CA | 1 |
| Capitola, CA | 1 |
| Lakewood, CA | 1 |
| Long Beach, CA | 1 |
| Greeley, CO | 1 |
| Louisville, CO | 1 |
| Vernon, CT | 1 |
| West Hartford, CT | 1 |
| Washington, DC | 1 |
| Oviedo, FL | 1 |
| Miami Springs, FL | 1 |
| Augusta, GA | 1 |
| Carbondale, IL | 1 |
| Rockford, IL | 1 |
| Cary, IL | 1 |
| Peoria, IL | 1 |
| Clarksville, IN | 1 |
| Wichita, KS | 1 |
| Lawrence, KS | 1 |
| Overland Park, KS | 1 |
| New Orleans, LA | 1 |
| Cambridge, MA | 1 |
| Gardner, MA | 1 |
| Worcester, MA | 1 |
| Westford, MA | 1 |
| Waban, MA | 1 |
| Brighton, MA | 1 |
| Watertown, MA | 1 |
| Allston, MA | 1 |
| Bel Air, MD | 1 |
| Stevensville, MD | 1 |
| Nottingham, MD | 1 |
| Olney, MD | 1 |
| Linthicum Heights, MD | 1 |
| Baltimore, MD | 1 |
| Portland, ME | 1 |
| Biddeford, ME | 1 |
| Bloomfield, MI | 1 |
| Mount Pleasant, MI | 1 |
| Clinton Township, MI | 1 |
| East Lansing, MI | 1 |
| Lansing, MI | 1 |
| Flint, MI | 1 |
| Grand Rapids, MI | 1 |
| Roseville, MN | 1 |
| Edina, MN | 1 |
| Bloomington, MN | 1 |
| St. Anthony, MN | 1 |
| Minneapolis, MN | 1 |
| St. Paul, MN | 1 |
| Springfield, MO | 1 |
| Richmond Heights, MO | 1 |
| Valley Park, MO | 1 |
| Kansas City, MO | 1 |
| Independence, MO | 1 |
| Wilmington, NC | 1 |
| Boone, NC | 1 |
| Montclair, NJ | 1 |
| Summit, NJ | 1 |
| Hamilton, NJ | 1 |
| Hopewell (Township), NJ | 1 |
| Albuquerque, NM | 1 |
| Victor, NY | 1 |
| Staten Island, NY | 1 |
| Wantagh, NY | 1 |
| East Greenbush, NY | 1 |
| Vestal, NY | 1 |
| Clifton Park, NY | 1 |
| Malta, NY | 1 |
| Niskayuna, NY | 1 |
| Farmingville, NY | 1 |
| East Amherst, NY | 1 |
| Queens, NY | 1 |
| Garden City, NY | 1 |
| Astoria, NY | 1 |
| Nanuet, NY | 1 |
| Latham, NY | 1 |
| Massapequa, NY | 1 |
| Depew, NY | 1 |
| Hamburg (Town), NY | 1 |
| Westlake, OH | 1 |
| Cleveland Heights, OH | 1 |
| Westerville, OH | 1 |
| Cincinnati, OH | 1 |
| Columbus, OH | 1 |
| Nichols Hills, OK | 1 |
| Springfield, OR | 1 |
| Salem, OR | 1 |
| Happy Valley, OR | 1 |
| Gresham, OR | 1 |
| Easton, PA | 1 |
| Allison Park, PA | 1 |
| McMurray, PA | 1 |
| Greensburg, PA | 1 |
| Anderson, SC | 1 |
| Columbia, SC | 1 |
| Greenville, SC | 1 |
| Alcoa, TN | 1 |
| Memphis, TN | 1 |
| Denison, TX | 1 |
| Houston, TX | 1 |
| New Braunfels, TX | 1 |
| Dallas, TX | 1 |
| Denton, TX | 1 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | 1 |
| Cottonwood Heights, UT | 1 |
| Sterling, VA | 1 |
| Roanoke, VA | 1 |
| Leesburg, VA | 1 |
| Newport News, VA | 1 |
| Farmville, VA | 1 |
| Falls Church, VA | 1 |
| Midlothian, VA | 1 |
| South Burlington, VT | 1 |
| North Bend, WA | 1 |
| Marysville, WA | 1 |
| Tumwater, WA | 1 |
| Everett, WA | 1 |
| Olympia, WA | 1 |
| Madison, WI | 1 |
| Appleton, WI | 1 |
| Plover, WI | 1 |
| Oak Creek, WI | 1 |
For most of the campaign, Seattle has topped the list with the most unionized Starbucks stores. But now Portland and Pittsburgh have pulled ahead of Seattle.