The story of Starbucks in the US is an important reference point for understanding organising in hospitality. The current wave of unionisation began in 2021 with the unionisation of a store in Buffalo, New York with Starbucks Workers United. At the start of 2024, Starbucks agreed to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement. This was a long fight that involved workers collectively organising with petitions, marches on the boss, walkouts, strikes, and plenty of press coverage. Workers have struck across 200 stores and won union elections at over 400 stores. Starbucks Workers United, which is part of SEIU, now represents 10,000 workers out of a workforce of approximately 250,000. As one of the workers involved in the campaign, Sarah Pappin, argued: “We want to not just open the door for the rest of the food service industry, we want to kick it down. Eventually you get tired of jumping to the next job and praying it’s gonna be better. You realize you should just take a stand where you have some good ground.”