Starbucks workers in Buffalo form a union

In a rare attempt to unionize at the country's biggest coffee shop chain, employees of the company in Buffalo, NY, have formed a union and yesterday filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board for permission to hold elections on union representation at three stores. Currently, none of Starbucks' 8,000 U.S. locations are unionized. Following news of the union last week, Starbucks remarked, “We respect our partners’ right to organize but believe that they would not find it necessary given our pro-partner environment.”