Workers of many stripes appear to be undeterred by Starbucks Workers United’s lack of a contract at any of the 270+ unionized stores across the United States. This remains the case more than a year after the first unionized Starbucks cafe emerged in New York.

The absence of results hasn’t made Biden’s NLRB happy, of course. His board favors strong-arm tactics to try and force the union issue and has also ordered the company to reinstate workers who claim they were fired for organizing. This month, a trial will determine whether Starbucks is liable for allegedly interfering with the organizing process. Baristas are also rallying across the nation while accusing the company of firing nearly 200 union leaders since the widespread organizing drive began. 

However, the union-fueled conflict at Starbucks still paves the way for other unions to consider every industry fair game:

·       Ballet Dancers are organizing in Tennessee, where they hope to join the Dancers Of Ballet Memphis union as part of the American Guild of Musical Artists. These performers cite a risk of on-the-job injury while seeking higher pay.

·       Breweries are also on the union map. The Creature Comforts Brewery is the subject of a massive drive for workers to join the Brewers’ Union Of Georgia, which goes by the admittedly catchy “BUG” acronym. That union hopes to gather members at breweries throughout the Peach State.

·       Cannabis still proves to be a big union draw, and over the past few weeks, the Teamsters captured winning votes at several Illinois dispensaries.

·       Afuri Ramen + Dumpling workers joined the brand new Restaurant Workers of Portland union. The union has already set its sights on their next target, the Potbelly Sandwich Shop, where workers filed for a union vote.

·       Museum Workers in metropolitan areas continue to catch the organizing bug. This month, Please Touch Museum workers filed for a union vote while citing inspiration from watching the nearby Philadelphia Museum of Art unionize in 2020. Interestingly enough, PMA’s contract negotiations dragged out for two years, including a 19-day strike in October.

·       Bus drivers in Amarillo, Texas are climbing aboard with the Teamsters at a steady clip. In doing so, DS Bus Line workers followed the example of nearby Hallcon and First Student locations after the union promised to win paid time off and higher wages for members. 

·       Meatpackers at Tyson are organizing to join the UFCW in Columbus, Ohio. If successful, the union will gain 1,400 new members at the plant. Workers alleged that the company threatened to fire organizers, something that Tyson disputes.

·       American Red Cross Workers in Dallas unionized after voting “overwhelmingly” in favor of climbing onboard the union’s national agreement for TeamCare, which boasts better health care benefits at a lower price than their existing plan.

·       The ongoing Five New Seasons saga has thus far resulted in five unionized Portland-area grocery stores with another local vote on the way. In the meantime, the NLRB is still threatening to allow a do-over vote from another location that voted no on unionizing. The board maintains that the store behaved improperly during the union election in question.

·       Fast food workers voiced their concerns about the pause on California’s Assembly Bill 257, which would have bumped most fast food workers up to $22 per hour minimum wage while bypassing the organizing process. Paradoxically, the block on this legislation appears to have spurred on more union talk.