The picket was followed by a press conference at the Elmwood Village Starbucks location, with some of the speakers being fired workers and the original organizers of that store. Speakers made note of the fact that, although it has been over 500 days since the first Starbucks store voted to unionize, there has yet to be one contract negotiated.
December 9, 2021, marked a huge victory for Starbucks workers and unions all across the country when the Elmwood store voted to unionize — the first location to do so. Over 300 Starbucks locations followed suit. Though the push for unions quickly garnered public support, SBWU experienced a great deal of corporate pushback.