Unionizing the Kansas City Starbucks

By Nomin Ujiyediin,

Published February 4, 2022 at 4:00 AM CST

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Workers at two Starbucks Coffee shops in the Kansas City area announced plans this week to unionize, citing unsafe working conditions and stagnant wages. Their efforts come after a New York store made history by forming Starbucks' first ever U.S. union at the end of 2021.

In December, workers at a Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, made history by voting to form the first union at any Starbucks U.S. location. The move earned them national media attention and eventually energized other Starbucks workers across the country to follow suit.

Nearly two months later, the workforces at 54 Starbucks stores in 19 states announced plans to unionize, including shops in Overland Park and on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza. On KCUR's Up To Date, host Steve Kraske spoke with Emma Baldridge and Josh Crowell, employees at the stores, about the campaigns.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love with Trevor Grandin and edited by Gabe Rosenberg & Lisa Rodriguez.

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