Starbucks Workers Strike In 3 Cities, Threaten More Walkouts By Christmas Eve

Unionized Starbucks workers went on strike in three cities Friday and threatened to expand their walkouts to additional markets in the run-up to Christmas.

Their union, Starbucks Workers United, said the strikes were timed to coincide with Starbucks’ busiest stretch of the year, and could spread to hundreds of stores by Tuesday — Christmas Eve — if the two sides don’t make progress in contract talks.

The union accused the coffee chain of “backtracking” on its commitment to reach a framework for a national deal for the more than 500 stores that have organized since 2021. Not one of the stores has secured a first contract yet.

“In a year when Starbucks invested so many millions in top executive talent, it has failed to present the baristas who make its company run with a viable economic proposal,” Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a Texas worker involved in negotiations, said in a statement through the union.

Andrew Trull, a Starbucks spokesperson, said in an email that the company and the union had reached tentative agreements on 30 matters over the course of bargaining since April. Trull said the union’s delegates “prematurely ended” negotiations this week ahead of the strikes.

“It is disappointing they didn’t return to the table given the progress we’ve made to date,” he said.

Starbucks Workers United, which is part of the union Workers United, said the first strikes hit stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

The Starbucks campaign is one of the most closely watched U.S. union efforts in decades. The coffee chain was union-free until baristas in the Buffalo, New York, area unionized their stores three years ago, leading to an organizing wave that spread around the country.

Starbucks resisted the union campaign and was found repeatedly by the National Labor Relations Board to have broken the law, but earlier this year softened its stance and agreed to make headway on a contract. There are now roughly 11,000 baristas in the union.

The two sides are currently in the tricky stage of negotiating a pay package that would apply at the union locations. (Starbucks has roughly 10,000 corporate-owned locations in the U.S.)

The union said Starbucks’ latest offer does not include an immediate pay raise and would guarantee just a minimum 1.5% annual pay hike. Lynne Fox, the president of Workers United, said in a statement that baristas wouldn’t accept a proposal “that doesn’t treat them as true partners.”

Trull said Starbucks’ average pay is above $18 and argued that its benefit package, including health care and college tuition coverage, is “best in class.” “No other retailer offers this kind of comprehensive pay and benefits package,” he said.

Starbucks baristas aren’t the only workers to hit the picket lines ahead of the holidays. Amazon delivery drivers walked off the job at several of the online retailer’s hubs Thursday, demanding that the company bargain with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.