Workers United thought they were setting the labor relations world on fire in December 2021 when baristas in Buffalo, NY became the first to unionize at Starbucks. The SEIU affiliate has since won 683 elections against the coffeehouse giant, which only adds up to roughly 4% of the 16,864 U.S. locations that Starbucks counted at the end of fiscal year 2025.
Even more tellingly, the union hasn’t reached a first contract at Starbucks. And if you look beyond this campaign, the full picture of Workers United’s organizing isn’t terribly impressive. While focusing on Starbucks, they’ve strayed from their bread and butter of hospitality and commercial laundry worker organizing. Since 2020, their non-Starbucks wins have been embarrassingly thin and include one Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop as well as single locations at Perks Cafe, Good Karma Cafe, and Image Comics.
Workers United’s recent track record also includes a newly failed effort to unionize an independent grocery chain close to their first Starbucks win.
Workers United Meets A Family Grocer
In July 2025, workers at Dash’s Market, a four-store, family-owned grocery chain in Buffalo, filed for a union vote at all locations. The bargaining unit contained 575 workers, and the resulting media blitz grew contentious. Owner Joe Dash spoke with the Buffalo News about his belief that he had inadvertently hired several workers who were “salts,” who purposefully applied for their roles with the intent of organizing coworkers from within.
Workers United denied those accusations, although their claim is impossible to take seriously since the union has relied upon salting at Starbucks. Their most notorious salt, Jaz Brisack, even went on a publicity blitz to promote their book about infiltrating Starbucks and spreading the union’s agenda. These tactics at Dash’s Market ultimately did not work.
Not without trying, though.
The local NBC affiliate aired a “both sides” style news segment that showed two opposing groups of Dash’s Market workers brandishing signs. The union activists got the first word in that segment, but a sizable group of workers also made clear that they did not support the union and stood with owner Joe Dash. In doing so, one worker expressed fears that unionization would “negatively affect our store in the whole” while another spoke at length about Dash’s generous PTO policies and other perks.
Six months later, Workers United quietly withdrew their petition, a sure sign that they lacked confidence in their ability to win.
What Workers United’s Recent Pattern Shows
The union that built its reputation on a national campaign against a global coffee brand couldn’t sustain an organizing drive at a four-store family grocer, and employers should understand why.
Workers United’s tactics rely on turning employees against employers that they frame as distant and out of touch with workers’ concerns. Even though they argue that those conditions exist at Starbucks, the campaign has only succeeded at 4% of locations. And at Dash’s Market, the union’s approach fell apart quickly. Joe Dash knew his people, engaged directly, and a meaningful portion of his workforce backed him. The union withdrew, and Workers United’s narrow playbook is starting to speak for itself.
