Starbucks Union Set to Strike in US Cities After Bargaining Talks End

A Starbucks worker boards the Starbucks union bus after workers stood on the picket line with striking actors and writers outside Netflix studios in Los Angeles on July 28, 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

A union representing more than 10,000 baristas at the Starbucks coffeehouse chain has announced that its members will strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle for five days starting on Dec. 20.

Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees across 525 stores in the United States, said on Dec. 19 that the walkouts would escalate daily and could affect “hundreds of stores” nationwide by Christmas Eve.

Starbucks said that it is ready to continue negotiations, claiming that union delegates prematurely ended the final bargaining session of the year on Dec. 17.

In a Dec. 20 statement posted to Facebook, the union said that Starbucks has “yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal.”

“This week, less than two weeks before their end-of-year deadline, Starbucks proposed no immediate wage increase for union baristas, and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years,” the union stated.

Workers United began negotiations with Starbucks in April to establish a foundational framework designed to achieve collective bargaining agreements, including a fair process for organizing, and the resolution of pending legal disputes.

The union has been pushing Starbucks to increase wages and benefits and bolster staffing across its stores while also implementing better schedules.

Workers United said in a Dec. 17 statement, ahead of the last bargaining session, that 98 percent of members had voted to authorize the strike.

In Tuesday’s statement, the union said it had spent “hundreds of hours” engaged in bargaining with Starbucks over the issues and that both sides have advanced dozens of tentative agreements over the year.

The union has filed hundreds of complaints with the National Labor Relations Board accusing Starbucks of various illegal labor practices, including interrogating and retaliating against union supporters.

The labor board and several federal courts have ruled that Starbucks violated U.S. labor law.

Starbucks has denied any wrongdoing and accused the union of trademark infringement for using its circular green logo that resembles Starbucks’ logo. It has also accused the union of encouraging workers to violate company policies.

“It’s time to finalize a foundational framework that includes meaningful investments in baristas and to resolve unfair labor practice charges,” Silvia Baldwin, a Philadelphia barista and bargaining delegate, said in the statement. “Starbucks can’t get back on track as a company until it finalizes a fair contract that invests in its workforce.”

In a statement to The Epoch Times before the strike was announced, a Starbucks spokesperson said the company remains committed to reaching a final framework agreement.

Since April, Starbucks has scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where it “reached thirty meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues,” the company said.

The previous round of negotiations between Starbucks and the union took place in September, just weeks after the company announced Laxman Narasimhan was stepping down from his role as CEO and as a member of the Starbucks board.

Laxman was replaced by former Chipotle Mexican Grill top boss Brian Niccol, who vowed to overhaul the coffee chain amid increased competition and make it a more appealing place to work for baristas.

On Monday, Niccol announced Starbucks will double its paid parental leave for U.S. store partners who work an average of 20 hours a week or more, beginning in March.

“Birth parents will receive up to 18 weeks of fully paid leave, and non-birth parents will receive up to 12 weeks of leave at full pay,” the company said.

The Epoch Times reached out to Starbucks for further comment but received no response by publication time.

Aldgra Fredly and Reuters contributed to this report.