Castro Starbucks first in San Francisco to vote to unionize - SFGATE

The exterior of the Starbucks on 18th Street, near Castro Street in San Francisco on Aug.

On Tuesday afternoon, with the National Labor Relations Board tallying the votes, workers at the Castro Starbucks (4098 18th St.) voted 7-2 in favor of forming a union (there were 15 eligible voters; 9 cast ballots).

Multiple workers at the Castro location tell SFGATE the store dealt for years with a plumbing issue — specifically, a rotten sewage smell — that they believe caused the shutdown and repairs.

Workers at the Castro location discussed the possibility of unionizing ever since the first Starbucks union was established in Buffalo in early December of 2021, but those conversations didn't pick up in earnest until early May of 2022, when their store was fully open again, Kreiss said.

San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro, offered the following statement to SFGATE: "Many congratulations to the Castro Starbucks employees on their historic vote to become San Francisco's first unionized Starbucks store.

The Bay Area may soon add another unionized Starbucks location: Workers at the Starbucks at 2224 Shattuck Ave