Reading Starbucks Unionization Effort: Results Uncertain After Vote

READING, MA — Reading Starbucks workers will have to wait to know the result of their recent union effort after their union vote ended with inconclusive results on Monday.

The initial vote tally came back with seven votes against unionization and four in favor. Five votes by shift managers at the 288 Main Street store were not counted, however, as Starbucks has challenged those votes.

That triggers a hearing process to decide whether the shift manager votes should be counted.

“I am grateful that we triggered the hearing and that the process will continue to move forward,” Shift Manager Julie Langevin told Patch on Monday.

Starbucks workers at the 288 Main Street store filed a petition to organize back in June, laying the groundwork for their union vote this week.

The 288 Main Street Starbucks was then closed on Monday while workers participated in the in-person vote.

Organizers and supports gathered on a nearby sidewalk during the day.

They then huddled around cell phones in a parking lot steps from their store’s front door for an official ballot count that was live-streamed over Zoom.

Either side of this week’s union question would have needed a six-vote margin within the 16 ballots cast to win outright on Monday.

Initially optimistic that they could do just that, organizers turned their attention to their upcoming hearing process following their 7-3 initial count against unionization.

“Even though it didn’t turn out the way we thought it would today, there’s still a chance,” Langevin said.

Union efforts within Starbucks stores in the U.S. have moved quickly since a Buffalo location became the first in the country to unionize late last year.

More than 200 stores have now unionized across the country, with over a dozen unionized in Massachusetts.

Unionizing workers have raised a number of concerns in their various efforts, often citing issues with staffing, product shortages or difficult working conditions.

Back in Reading, Kaylee Jensen, a barista at the 288 Main Street store, reflected on the process to date.

“It’s my first time having such a big community that has such strong feelings for something like this,” Jensen, who is a senior at Reading High School, said. “It feels really good to be with people that are supporting and to support those people back.”

A hearing date to review challenged ballots had not been set as of Monday evening.

Patch has reached out to Starbucks for comment.