Lynbrook Starbucks Votes to Unionize, Celebrates With Rally Outside Store

Lynbrook Starbucks Votes to Unionize, Celebrates With Rally Outside Store

The Lynbrook Starbucks location voted 14-8 to unionize with Starbucks Workers United, a part of the Workers United New York-New Jersey Joint Board, announced on Tuesday. It is the fifth Starbucks store on Long Island to unionize.

In celebration of the union victory and to protest union busting, workers from the Lynbrook Starbucks rallied outside the store Tuesday afternoon. The newly unionized workers cited understaffing and unsafe working conditions as reasons for the labor action.

“Since I’ve worked at Starbucks I’ve seen management come and go, baristas harassed, and stressed-out young adults trying to reach a standard set by the company that is unrealistic,” Natasha Campbell, a Starbucks employee for four years. “What this union means to me is support and protection for myself, and current and future baristas.” 

Starbucks Workers United claim that Starbucks has launched “a ruthless union-busting campaign that includes firing 200 union leaders across the country and shuttering union stores.” Despite this, the union is leading a nationwide labor movement and has unionized more than 270 union stores in 36 states.

The Lynbrook Starbucks joins other Long Island Starbucks stores in Wantagh, Farmingville, Westbury, and Massapequa in Starbucks Workers United. 

“I’m grateful for this push to unionize because I feel like it’s going to give us a voice and protect us from being treated unjustly,” said Ana Martinez, a Starbucks employee for about one and a half years.

In an email to the Press, Starbucks defended its track record of fair treatment toward its employees, which they call partners, citing that the average wage of a Starbucks worker is $17.50 per hour and that they offer a student loan debt program, an incentivized savings program, and family expansion reimbursement program.

“We’re aware that a subset of partners feel differently, and we respect their right to organize and to engage in lawful union activities,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in the email. “Starbucks has fully honored the process laid out by the NLRB for single-store union representation elections, has encouraged partners to exercise their right to vote and has recognized the outcome of properly conducted elections. We look forward to meeting Workers United in-person to begin the single-store collective bargaining process.”