Seattle Starbucks Votes to Unionize

(Seattle, WA) -- Workers at a Starbucks in the chain's hometown of Seattle are now officially union members. The National Labor Relations Board announced Tuesday that employees at the Starbucks on Broadway and Denny Way voted unanimously to unionize. It's the seventh location in the nation where workers will be members of Workers United; other include Starbucks cafes in Buffalo, New York, and Mesa, Arizona. Six other Seattle Starbucks locations have also filed for union elections--including the company’s flagship Reserve Roastery designed to compete with more upscale coffee shops.

The union push occurs at a time Starbucks will be changing leadership. Current CEO Kevin Johnson is retiring, so former CEO Howard Schultz is returning in April to run the company until a new long-term replacement is hired by the company's board.