In protest of the lack of progress in contract discussions with the firm, unionized Starbucks employees in the Portland region have joined a five-day strike that began Friday.
In the hectic run-up to Christmas, strikes by baristas and other employees affiliated with the union Starbucks Workers United started in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle and have since expanded to twelve cities.
The organization that organized the workers said that as of Monday afternoon, the strike has shut down 59 stores. However, Starbucks officials stated on Monday that the operation of its stores has not been significantly impacted.
We value the thousands of partners nationwide who continue to support one another and provide our customers with the Starbucks experience, and we respect our partners’ right to participate in authorized strike activity,” the business said in a statement on Monday.
Although Starbucks has around 10,000 company-owned locations in the United States, employees at 535 of those locations have chosen to form a union since 2021.
According to the union, there are roughly 20 Starbucks outlets in the Portland region and about three dozen in Oregon that are affiliated with Starbucks Workers United. Employees intended to picket a facility in Beaverton, however it was unclear how many were taking part in the strike.
Starbucks has not fulfilled a February pledge to negotiate a labor agreement this year, according to Starbucks Workers United, which started the unionization movement in 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.
Starbucks CEO and chairman Brian Niccol, who began work in September, might earn over $100 million in his first year, 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.”
Pay increases are the main topic of negotiation at the moment. Starbucks stated that it has promised unionized employees a minimum 1.5% yearly wage rise. In any given year, the corporation would nonetheless give union members a 1.5% raise even if it provided non-union workers a smaller raise.
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. In June 2023, hundreds of workers also went on strike in protest 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. When Niccol was the CEO of Chipotle, he 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.
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 Starbucks barista from Texas and bargaining delegate, said in a statement.
— Wire reports and staff
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