South Carolina Starbucks workers vote to unionize in the state for the first time

Workers at a Starbucks in Greenville voted Monday to unionize, Starbucks Workers United announced.

The store on Pelham Road at Interstate 85 is the first Starbucks in South Carolina to do so.

The vote was 8-1.

Starbucks has 8,000 stores nationwide.

The effort to unionize began last fall in Buffalo, New York. Workers said they were concerned about chronic understaffing, made worse during the pandemic, and a lack of communication between workers and corporate.

About 70 stores nationwide have unionized.

“I hope this win brings further confidence from our partners who are still waiting for inspiration,” said Hayden Mullen, a shift supervisor at the Greenville store, in a statement to The Greenville News.

This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 9:08 AM.