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Baristas at an experimental Starbucks-Amazon Go store in New York narrowly rejected union membership, the latest setback for the U.S. labor movement.
The workers, who legally work for Starbucks, requested a union election because they said the tie-up between the coffee chain and Amazon.com. doubled their workload with no additional pay. The vote was very close, with 13 voting to join Starbucks Workers United, and 14 voting no, according to a spokesperson for the National Labor Relations Board, which oversees union elections.
The defeat follows successful campaigns at hundreds of Starbucks cafes around the U.S. Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted earlier this year to join the Amazon Labor Union, but the upstart labor group lost two subsequent contests.
“We are grateful for the continued trust our partners have placed in the company as we work side-by-side with them to reinvent Starbucks for the future,” Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said in an emailed statement.
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Starbucks baristas at 50 locations throughout the U.S. went on a three-day strike Friday, saying the company isn’t bargaining fairly with recently unionized stores.
A group of workers at an Amazon Fresh grocery store in Seattle earlier this year announced that it had formed a union that would seek improved working conditions, but without taking the step of petitioning the NLRB for an election that could force Amazon to recognize the group.
Amazon and Starbucks have both fiercely fought the union campaigns, at times using tactics that NLRB officials say violated workers’ rights.
The two companies launched the pilot retail partnership last year, with the aim of using Amazon’s cashierless technology and Starbucks’ mobile ordering to facilitate a fast and convenient experience for customers. There are now two Starbucks Pickup with Amazon Go stores, one near Times Square and another on Manhattan’s East Side.
The locations are divided into three sections: a Starbucks waiting area, Amazon Go market and a lounge. The idea is for people to pick up a coffee ordered from the Starbucks app, grab food from the Amazon Go and then walk out without having to stand in line.
With assistance from Sabiq Shahidullah and Josh Eidelson.