Starbucks Workers in 3 Cities Are Going on Strike

Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company. The strikes are scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.

• Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned US stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. The union also wants the company to resolve outstanding legal issues, including hundreds of unfair labor practice charges that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the AP reports.

• The union noted that Starbucks' new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who started in September, could make more than $100 million in his first year on the job. But the company recently proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for unionized baristas now and a 1.5% increase in future years, the union said.
• "Union baristas know their value, and they're not going to accept a proposal that doesn't treat them as true partners," said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United.
• Starbucks said Workers United prematurely ended a bargaining session this week and it needs the union to "return to the table." Starbucks, which has nearly 10,000 company-owned stores in the US, said it already offers pay and benefits—including free college tuition and paid family leave—worth $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week.

(More Starbucks stories.)