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In the photo, staff at a Starbucks in Buffalo, NY, react to forming a union last week, the first of some 8,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. to do so. Another Starbucks in Buffalo rejected the proposal to unionize, and a third is finalizing their vote after challenges.
The changing work environment stemming from the pandemic and growing income inequality have caused workers to reexamine their relationship with their employers. Also, Gallup polling indicates that unions are enjoying their highest favorability since 1965 at 68%. As Johnnie Kallas, a Cornell University PhD candidate in their Industrial and Labor Relations School, points out in the Vox article:
“Sometimes strikes and union organizing victories can be very contagious. We saw this in 2018 with teacher strikes. They began in West Virginia; they quickly spread to North Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma, and other states. [This vote] could inspire a lot of workers across the country in a low-unionized sector to fight for union rights.”
(photo: Lindsay DeDario/Reuters)
