Another Starbucks votes to unionize: 5th store in New Jersey

☕ A Starbucks in NJ voted to unionize

✅ It’s the 5th location in the state to do so

❎ NJ's first Starbucks to unionize went on strike last summer

Workers at another New Jersey Starbucks have voted to unionize, making it the fifth in the state to do so.

The store is located in Morris County at 401 Route 10, straddling the Succasunna and Ledgewood sections of Roxbury.

In the vote taken on Aug. 10, 17 workers supported unionizing while four voted against it.

All full-time and regular part-time baristas and shift supervisors took part in the vote.

Those not included were office clerical employees, store managers, assistant store managers, guards and supervisors.

It’s the first NJ location to take action on unionizing in about a year.

Last summer, the Starbucks at 40 South Park Street in Montclair also joined the fray, behind Summit, Hamilton (Mercer County) and Hopewell.

“We are listening and learning from the partners in these stores, as we always do across the country,” a Starbucks spokesperson previously said, in a written statement to New Jersey 101.5 when the first stores were holding votes last year.

“And, from the beginning, we’ve been clear in our belief that we are better together as partners without a union between us — and that conviction has not changed,” the spokesperson continued.

Last August, the Hopewell store went on strike, to protest a months-long delay of a negotiation date after its workers had voted to unionize.

Read More: First NJ Starbucks to unionize goes on strike for benefits, pay

"We respect our partners’ right to engage in any legally protected activity or protest without retaliation," a Starbucks spokesperson told New Jersey 101.5 at that time.

Nationwide, Starbucks has seen a steady push toward unionizing among its locations, and the company's response has drawn criticism that led to March testimony on Capitol Hill.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz testified before a U.S. Senate committee about accusations of anti-union practices, as carried by C-Span.

The company has consistently denied firing any employees or closing stores due to organizing activity, as reported by PBS Newshour.

Schultz said that no labor laws had been broken, telling U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that “under the law, we did not have the unilateral right to provide those benefits to partners who were involved in collective bargaining.”