For Immediate Release: December 10, 2021
Contact: Jerame Davis – jdavis@prideatwork.org

Pride at Work Congratulates Workers at First Union Starbucks

Washington, DC – On Thursday, workers at a Starbucks coffee shop in Buffalo, NY voted to unionize, making this location the first unionized Starbucks store in the United States. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, reacted:

“Despite a significant anti-union campaign that paraded current and former Starbucks executives through the store, these workers in Buffalo weren’t falling for it and overwhelmingly voted to form a union. We are so thrilled to see workers rising up around this country and saying enough is enough to greedy bosses and poor working conditions.”

Like many Starbucks locations, this store employs LGBTQ workers who are now part of Workers United, an independent SEIU affiliate, along with their colleagues. RJ Rebmann is one of those workers. After the election results, they said:

“Today we showed Starbucks that when workers organize together we win. No matter how much money they spend on busting the union, in spite of all the lies and intimidation we won because we understand our class interests and are willing to fight and use our voice. I hope this inspires all working class people, no matter what company you work for — if we can do it, you can too!”

Pride at Work congratulates all of the workers at the Buffalo Starbucks for this incredible win.

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Pride At Work is the largest national organization that builds power for LGBTQIA+ working people. We organize mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQIA+ Community for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBTQIA+ working people in our workplaces, our unions, and the public square. We organize in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Learn more at www.prideatwork.org.