Arlington Officials Support Starbucks Workers At Rally For Union Rights

ARLINGTON, VA — Starbucks workers rallied in Arlington Friday evening to mark the one-year anniversary of the first Starbucks union election victory in Buffalo, New York.

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and other local elected officials, along with top union leaders, including AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler, joined the workers near the Starbucks store in Courthouse Plaza to show their support for the unionization of Starbucks workers.

“I will continue to stand up for workers’ rights and fight for their right to join a union,” Beyer said in a tweet on Saturday after attending Friday night’s rally.

The rally was one of many across the county, organized as part of a National Day of Action by Starbucks Workers United, where speakers asked Starbucks to stop “bullying” unionized employees and respect workers’ right to organize.

"What a great turnout at Courthouse in support of Starbucks workers’s union push," Arlington County Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti wrote in a tweet Friday night. "I am, through my husband and his father, part of a union family. Union strong."

In November, employees at the Starbucks store in Courthouse Plaza voted to become the second D.C.-area Starbucks location to unionize. The employees are organizing with and joining Starbucks Workers United.

The workers at the Arlington Starbucks unionized for better pay, more consistent hours and uniformly enforced rules and regulations. The other unionized Starbucks in the D.C. area is on P Street in the District, which voted to unionize in October.

A year ago, Starbucks workers have voted to form their first U.S. union in Buffalo. Starbucks operates 8,953 stores in the United States.