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Starbucks is facing a fast-growing union campaign just weeks after 

Employees at 54 stores in 19 states are pursuing union elections, according to organizers. Fifteen of those stores joined the union drive on Monday, petitioning the federal labor officials to set a vote. The filing coincides with the start of contract negotiations between Starbucks and unionized workers in Buffalo.

Last month, Starbucks workers at three New York stores 

. A majority voted in favor at two of the three locations, unionizing 64 workers. Now, 

in Mesa, Ariz., are wrapping up their own union election by mail. Employees at three more Buffalo-area locations also begin voting this week.

Altogether, the union-election push affects only a fraction of almost 9,000 U.S. stores run by Starbucks. But the quick and high-profile first union victory in Buffalo became a watershed moment for the company, especially as restaurant workers are among the country's 

As the union push spreads, labor experts say it will be harder for Starbucks to fight each one individually. They also say the high profile of Starbucks helps raise union awareness among regular Americans 

In the coming weeks, another potentially groundbreaking

union push will proceed at Amazon, where thousands of Alabama warehouse workers will 

 and their colleagues on Staten Island may 

At Starbucks, the pro-union workers have advocated for better staffing, training and pay, seeking a direct line to company management. Buffalo workers have joined Workers United, affiliated with the massive Service Employees International Union. 

Contract negotiations present the next challenges for the labor group, as collective bargaining agreements can take months to reach. In Canada, Starbucks workers reached a three-year contract with the company 

 after voting to join the United Steelworkers 

A Starbucks representative declined to comment on Monday's developments. In a 

, the company's North America president said "we do not want a union between us as partners" but added that the company would "bargain in good faith."

Hours before federal officials set the union vote for Buffalo stores, 

 it would raise its starting pay to $15 an hour and boost wages for staff employed longer than two years and five years, plus make changes to its training and scheduling. 

In the past, the coffee chain has fought off organizing attempts in 

. In the 1980s, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union for a while represented some Starbucks staff. That union still represents workers at some locations run by grocery stores and not directly by Starbucks. 

In the ongoing union vote in Arizona, Starbucks filed an appeal with federal labor officials to block the vote tally, arguing that all locations in the area should vote in the union election, rather than one individual store. The company lost 

Business and Economic News

Alina Selyukh

Author

Starbucks workers at 15 additional stores are petitioning for a a union election, pushing to organize cafes across the country. In Buffalo, the first store to unionize is negotiating a contract. 

Starbucks union push spreads to 54 stores in 19 states

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