Astoria Starbucks Workers Seek To Unionize, Joining Trend

ASTORIA, QUEENS — The employees at an Astoria Starbucks shop have filed to form a union, they announced Friday, part of a nationwide trend that has swept dozens of the company's cafes.

The 13 workers at the Astoria Boulevard Starbucks, on the corner of 31st Street, have agreed unanimously to support the union, according to a spokesperson for Workers United, the existing union they are seeking to join. A formal vote is likely to follow within weeks.

"At Astoria Boulevard, we pride ourselves on the tight-knit community we have fostered at our store," reads an open letter to Starbucks interim CEO Howard Schultz, signed by six of the shop's baristas.

"We present our best selves at work every day, and it is our service to each other and the neighborhood, which many of us are a part of, that often keeps us going."

In requesting "a seat at the bargaining table," the workers cited the difficulties of working during the pandemic, which included new job responsibilities and "questionable health and safety protocols," they wrote. They asked Schultz to recognize the union and commit to allowing a fair vote.

Workers at 150 Starbucks locations nationwide have filed union petitions, according to a tracker by Perfect Union. The movement began in Buffalo, N.Y., where workers at two stores voted to unionize in December and January — despite efforts by Starbucks to dissuade them from doing so.

Also on Friday, the Astoria Boulevard workers revealed that four of the neighborhood's elected officials had penned their own letter to Schultz, saying they "stand in solidarity" with the employees. They asked Starbucks to refrain from retaliating against anyone involved in the effort, as the company has been accused of doing at other locations.

"All workers have the right to a union and to a collective voice in the conditions of their own employment," reads the letter, which was co-signed by U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, State Sen. Michael Gianaris, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani and City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán.

Of the store's 13 workers, 12 have already signed union cards, while the 13th has only not done so because they were on vacation, according to the Workers United spokesperson. That is well over the 30 percent threshold that triggers a union vote under federal law.

"My fellow partners and I decided to unionize because we are forced to manage the consequences of decisions we were not a part of, made by people who don't understand what it is like to live a life as a Starbucks barista," said Brandi Alduk, a three-year employee at the store, in a statement.

The workers will hold a rally in support of the union effort next Friday outside Starbucks's Meatpacking District Roastery, whose workers have themselves filed for a union.