Illinois gets its first unionized Starbucks stores

Cary, Illinois - Illinois is on the map!

Starbucks workers and allies in Peoria demonstrate outside the University and Main store.
Starbucks workers and allies in Peoria demonstrate outside the University and Main store.  © Screenshot/Twitter/JenLenz

Two Starbucks stores in Illinois voted on Tuesday to unionize, becoming the first in the state to do so.

In order to win, workers at each store had to receive at least 50% of their vote plus one.

The Northwest Highway and Feinberg Drive location in Cary won the first election with a decisive 17-4 vote.

The University and Main store in Peoria followed suit, with workers voting 9-2 in favor of unionization.

The coffee chain's organizing wave seems unstoppable, despite corporate pushback. Four out of four stores that have had their union election tallies this week have come out successful.

"We’re feeling incredibly empowered," Peoria barista Jon Gill told the Chicago Tribune. "The wins that we are seeing at Starbucks are proof that no massive corporation is invincible."

With 11 more vote counts scheduled for this week, the number of unionized stores could soon grow even more.

Cover photo: Screenshot/Twitter/JenLenz

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