Baristas at the Levittown-Wantagh Parkway Starbucks have filed a petition for a union election on Jan 21, Starbucks Workers United announced. The filing is part of a nationwide push to unionize Starbucks locations, with employees seeking workplace protections, living wages, fair scheduling practices, and respect on the job.
The Levittown baristas aim to join more than 11,000 Starbucks employees at over 530 locations across 45 states and Washington, D.C., who have successfully unionized. Organized under Starbucks Workers United, the movement has seen significant growth in recent months, fueled by a wave of election filings and peer-to-peer organizing among workers.
The Levittown store’s petition comes as union activity at Starbucks locations across the country reaches significant levels. Since February 2024, more than 130 stores have voted to unionize, including locations in Maine, Texas, and even Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters. Workers have been advocating for improved workplace conditions and increased accountability from corporate management.
“A majority of us were working 40 plus hours a week with a two man play for hours on end,” Hibbah Akhtar, a shift supervisor of over four years, said in a statement. “Everything that we had just gone through this past year just continued to go unacknowledged. A union was the only logical step.”
The latest filing follows what union representatives describe as a “winning streak” of labor victories. Workers United recently filed more than 90 unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks, alleging the company has backtracked on agreements related to collective bargaining.
In December 2024, over 5,000 Starbucks employees participated in the largest strike in the company’s history, shutting down more than 300 stores nationwide on Christmas Eve. That protest aimed to highlight alleged unfair labor practices and amplify workers’ demands for fair treatment.
While the Levittown-Wantagh Parkway location is the latest to file for a union election, the move signals the growing reach of the Starbucks Workers United campaign on Long Island. Organizers have framed the effort as part of a larger push for fairness, equity, and transparency in workplaces.
“I would say my main reason for unionizing is being in the store for 7 years and having no recognition or improvement towards the team or store in general,” Nick Dascoli, a 7 year partner who has worked at the Levittown cafe since it opened, said. “I worked through a global pandemic, a period with no manager, countless understaffed days with broken equipment and so on. Not once have I been thanked for my hard work and that’s the issue.”
With their petition filed with the National Labor Relations Board, Levittown baristas await the scheduling of their election.