Employees at the original Starbucks store, opened in 1971 at Seattle's Pike Place Market and now a major tourist destination, have filed to join Starbucks Workers United, the union that has won elections at more than 600 US locations since 2021. Workers cited unsafe conditions, management favouritism, and the pressures of serving tourists — some waiting up to two hours to enter — as key reasons for organising. The move comes as the broader union campaign remains stalled more than four years after the first Starbucks store unionised, with workers recently filing an unfair labour practice charge accusing the company of attempting to withdraw from seven previously agreed bargaining agreements; Starbucks denies any wrongdoing and says it is negotiating in good faith.