The Rise of the Unionized Barista

Reporter Lizz Giordano discusses the recent labor organizing push in Washington and the struggles between Starbucks and its workers.

When employees at a Starbucks coffee shop in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize in December 2021, it was big news. The result was a first for the Seattle-based corporation. Since then, workers at hundreds of locations across the country have followed suit. 

But in the year since, almost nothing has happened at the bargaining table. And union members allege that Starbucks has retaliated in a number of ways, from closing unionized stores to creating new benefits for nonunionized workers. 

For this episode of the Crosscut Reports podcast, host Sara Bernard speaks with investigative reporter Lizz Giordano about her story on what, exactly, has been happening at the bargaining table. 

She also discusses what comes next for these workers and what their efforts say about the broader debate around unions, workers' rights and a post-pandemic labor market.

Read our full report on the Starbucks union negotiations here. 

---

Credits

Host/Producer: Sara Bernard

Reporter: Lizz Giordano

Executive producer: Mark Baumgarten

---

If you would like to support Crosscut, go to crosscut.com/membership. In addition to supporting our events and our daily journalism, members receive complete access to the on-demand programming of Seattle’s PBS station, KCTS 9.