A look at where some of retail’s unionization efforts stand

On Tuesday, CNBC reported that “Starbucks has informed workers at two locations that their stores will be closing, a move that the coffee chain’s union says is retaliation for organizing efforts.”

Starting late last year, Starbucks locations made headlines after successfully voting to unionize their stores. What followed was an avalanche of unionization efforts across a variety of companies that, up until now, rarely thought unions were coming for them.

A smattering of recent union efforts:

Like Starbucks, Apple is reportedly ratcheting up its push against unionization, as a handful of locations across the country look to make it a reality. Apple retail employees in Towson, Maryland, voted in June to join the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

• Since then, Apple announced a 10% increase in retail pay, and the bargaining committee is getting ready to negotiate a contract, per The Verge.
• Employees at the Towson location claim Apple representatives are giving “anti-union talking points.”
• All this came after Apple workers in Atlanta withdrew their petition for an election in June.

Trader Joe’s employees at locations in Western Massachusetts and Minneapolis voted to unionize in mid-August. Woody Hoagland, who’s worked at the Hadley, Massachusetts, location for 14 years, told Vox that historically, workers were treated well, but “then it started to slowly get chipped away and it really took a pretty precipitous fall during the pandemic.”

• Some employees at the Trader Joe’s wine shop in NYC told CBS News they believe the store was abruptly shut down due to an upcoming union drive.

Lululemon workers at a Washington, D.C., store filed a petition for a vote in late July, but it was quickly withdrawn last week. Starbucks locations that have voted to unionize continue to experience delays in bargaining that the workers attribute to union busting.

The big picture: This latest spate of retail workers unionizing is particularly unique given the drop in membership over several decades. In 1983, 20% of US workers were part of a union; that figure has dropped to 10% as of last year.