STARBUCKS workers in Seattle have launched a unionisation campaign inspired by the victory of their colleagues in New York last week.

In a letter to the Kevin Johnson, the global coffee chain’s chief executive, staff at the Broadway and Denny store said they have filed papers calling for a union election to give themselves a voice in the workplace.

“We stand with partners around the country who are organising to make Starbucks a better company,” the letter said.

“Starbucks started here in Seattle 50 years ago and we intend to make the next 50 even greater with a union.”

They have been boosted as workers at the Elmwood store in Buffalo won the right to form a union last week, despite a bitter campaign of intimidation by Starbucks bosses.

Broadway and Denny staff have formed their own unofficial Starbucks Workers United Organising Committee which is leading the drive to form a union.

The letter called on Starbucks bosses to sign up to the “fair election principles” and allow all workers to “organise without fear of retribution.”

It said: “We see organising as an extension of your values and call upon you to live up to them by allowing Starbucks partners the right to decide whether or not to unionise freely or fairly,” it said.

The company believes that its work environment “coupled with our outstanding compensation and benefits, makes unions unnecessary at Starbucks.”

Workers at the Elmwood store became the first to successfully unionise in the US since the 1980s, with the National Labour Relations Board confirming a 19-8 vote in favour earlier this month.

Starbucks was contacted for comment.