Starbucks In Meatpacking District Becomes First In NYC To Unionize

MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NY — The Reserve Roastery Starbucks in the Meatpacking District voted to unionize on Friday, becoming the first coffee chain location in the city to do so.

Starbucks Workers United said employees of the store at 61 9th Ave. voted 46 to 36 in favor of unionizing.

It is also the first flagship Starbucks store in the nation to unionize.

"I'm proud of the culmination of our efforts to make our workplaces more democratic and equitable," Ley Kido, a Starbucks partner of nine years, said in a release on Twitter. "Community is a value near and dear to my heart and I'm grateful and joyous to be in solidarity with my peers!"

The Meatpacking District store is one of three Roastery locations in the country. Roastery locations are larger than regular Starbucks and serve a wider selection of menu items.

The vote to unionize comes after employees at the Roastery filed for a union petition on Feb. 10.

The statement from Starbucks Workers United said that Starbucks launched a "pervasive union-busting campaign" that involved one-on-one employee meetings with management, and anti-union materials being distributed.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine took to Twitter to congratulate the Lower Manhattan Starbucks on its decision to unionize.

"A second labor earthquake in NYC today...this time in Manhattan," Levine wrote. "Congrats to the workers at the Chelsea Starbucks Roastery on this hard-fought organizing victory."

The announcement of the Starbucks union came the same evening as an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island voting in favor of unionizing.

While most media has referred to the Reserve Roastery Starbucks as the Chelsea location, it is located in the Meatpacking District just a block and a half from 14th Street.