Workers at Starbucks stores in three cities plan to go on strike on Friday after a union representing more than 11,000 baristas in the US said it was making little progress with the giant coffee chain’s owners over pay and conditions.
The walkouts will start in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, with strike action set to spread each day and, subject to a deal, reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve.
The strike comes as workers at the online giant Amazon was also hit by a worker’s walkout.
Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned US stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a pledge to meet to reach an agreement this year.
“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.
“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,” said Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a Starbucks barista and bargaining delegate.
The union noted that Starbucks’ new chairman and CEO, Brian Niccol, could make more than $100m in his first year, but the company had proposed a pay deal with no new wage increases for unionized servers and a 1.5% increase in future years.
But Starbucks has 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.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table,” Starbucks said in a statement.
In November 2023, Starbucks workers at more than 200 stores walked out on Red Cup Day, when the company gives away reusable cups. Workers also went on strike in June 2023 when some stores banned Pride month displays.
Baristas have said understaffing due, in part, to an algorithm Starbucks uses to assign store labor, combined with customers making complex orders, and the need to juggle in-person, drive-thru, mobile and delivery orders, have made their jobs harder.
About 8% of Starbucks customers wait between 15 and 30 minutes for their order, according to a study cited by Bloomberg earlier this year, compared with minimal no wait times in 2019.
