What’s the advantage to having a union specific to Starbucks rather than a broader one for batistas or even hospitality in general?

Question

What’s the advantage to having a union specific to Starbucks rather than a broader one for batistas or even hospitality in general?

In: 13

Answer 1

I want to clear up the difference between a union and a collective bargaining unit. A union is an organization of workers who decide to work together to help each other.

A collective bargaining unit is a legally recognized group of workers who have elected to all negotiate together for a common contract. Bargaining units usually exist at a single workplace, for example at a specific Starbucks location. Unions, on the other hand, are collections of those bargaining units that pool their resources.

So you can have the United Baristas Union of America that represents 45 different groups of workers at difference coffee shops that each have their own contract who aren’t allowed to strike just because one of the other contracts has expired.

So it’s not like you’ll have every barista at every coffee shop walking out at the same time.