Starbucks employees are to begin a five-day walkout on Friday in protest of the company’s lack of progress in contract negotiations.
By Christmas Eve, hundreds of stores nationwide might be affected by the planned strikes by baristas and other workers in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. The Teamsters union announced strikes at seven Amazon delivery hubs the day before the planned walkouts.
Early on Friday, Starbucks declared that its shop operations would not be significantly impacted. Although Starbucks has almost 10,000 company-owned locations in the United States, employees at 535 of those locations have chosen to form a union.
According to a statement from the Seattle-based coffee company, “We are aware of disruption at a small handful of stores, but the overwhelming majority of our U.S. stores remain open and serving customers as normal.”
Starbucks has not fulfilled a February pledge to negotiate a labor agreement this year, according to Starbucks Workers United, the union that has been organizing employees since 2021. Additionally, the union wants the business to settle unresolved legal matters, such as hundreds of unfair labor practice complaints that employees have submitted to the National Labor Relations Board.
In his first year on the job, Starbucks Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who began in September, might earn over $100 million, according to the union. However, it stated that the business just put forth an economic package that would give unionized baristas a 1.5% raise in subsequent years but no additional wage increases at this time.
According to Lynne Fox, president of Starbucks Workers United, union baristas are aware of their worth and will not accept a proposal that does not treat them as genuine partners.
Starbucks claimed that Workers United halted this week’s negotiation round too soon.
We’re prepared to keep negotiating in order to get to an agreement. The business issued a statement saying, “We need the union to get back to the table.”
According to Starbucks, it suggested a minimum 1.5% yearly pay raise, with the possibility of a bigger increase in certain years. According to the corporation, union workers would still receive a 1.5% raise even if non-union stores had a lower increase in any given year.
According to Starbucks, the union wants to raise the minimum wage for hourly workers by 77% over the course of a three-year contract and by 64% immediately.
According to Starbucks, their average hourly wage is already $18. With advantages including paid family leave, free college tuition, and health insurance, Starbucks pays baristas who put in at least 20 hours a week an average of $30 per hour.
During the hectic holiday season, this won’t be Starbucks’ first strike. On Red Cup Day in November 2023, when the company typically distributes thousands of reusable cups, thousands of employees at more than 200 stores went on strike. Additionally, hundreds of workers protested by going on strike in June 2023 when the union claimed that Starbucks had prohibited Pride displays at certain locations.
When the union and the firm went back to the negotiating table early this year and promised to come to an agreement, the tone changed. According to Starbucks, it has negotiated more than 30 agreements with the union and has participated in nine negotiation sessions since April.
However, Starbucks has experienced a decline in revenues and consumer traffic both domestically and internationally this year, and Laxman Narasimhan, the CEO who pledged to work toward a labor agreement, was fired this summer. While serving as Chipotle’s CEO, Niccol put an end to a unionization effort, but in a letter sent in September, he promised to cooperate with the union.
The union and Starbucks now seem to be at a standstill.
Texas Starbucks barista and negotiation delegate Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi stated:
Starbucks has failed to provide a feasible economic plan to the baristas who run the business, despite spending millions on top executive talent in the past year.
The Associated Press
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