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Another Philly Starbucks launched unionizing effort on strike day

Workers at the West Philly Starbucks walked out as part of the nationwide "Red Cup Rebellion" strikes and filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board.

The Starbucks at 39th and Walnut Streets was temporarily closed Thursday after baristas walked out of work and picketed outside the store. That location was not unionized as of last week but has now filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join Workers United.
The Starbucks at 39th and Walnut Streets was temporarily closed Thursday after baristas walked out of work and picketed outside the store. That location was not unionized as of last week but has now filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking to join Workers United.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Another Philadelphia Starbucks location is seeking to unionize.

Baristas at the 39th and Walnut Street location filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board. Their proposed bargaining unit would be 22 people and would be one of more than a half-dozen unionized Starbucks locations in the city.

Workers at that location on Thursday participated in a coordinated one-day strike, picketing outside their store. The strike, which included employees at more than 200 Starbucks locations across the United States, was held to coincide with Starbucks’ Red Cup Day promotion. Workers referred to it as the “Red Cup Rebellion.”

Starbucks Workers United includes more than 360 Starbucks stores and 9,000 workers. The union has accused Starbucks of refusing to bargain a contract in good faith and has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board.

A spokesperson for Starbucks, Andrew Trull, said last week that “Workers United hasn’t agreed to meet to progress contract bargaining in more than four months.”

The Starbucks Workers United X account shared last week that several nonunion stores in different states had similarly joined the walkout and filed petitions to unionize.

Starbucks is among many coffee shops in Philadelphia where workers are organizing around labor issues. Locally owned stores such as Reanimator, Elixr Coffee, and Ultimo Coffee have also unionized with Workers United in recent years and have faced some challenges in their efforts to reach a first contract.

Earlier this month, workers at Vibrant Coffee Roasters held an election, and a majority voted to unionize at the shop’s Rittenhouse and 30th Street locations.