Starbucks union strike expands to 9 states

The five-day strike against Starbucks reached nine states on Sunday, according to its union. The Starbucks Workers United said union workers in Missouri, New Jersey and New York began their strike Sunday after locations in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania joined the strike Saturday. Workers United represents more than 10,000 workers at over 525 stores. A Starbucks Workers United spokesperson told CNN 30 stores nationwide were closed completely but it’s too early to know the total numbers for Sunday. The union has said the strike could reach “hundreds of stores” by Tuesday, a small portion of Starbucks’ more than 10,000 company-operated stores with more than 200,000 employees. The strike is on its third day after walkouts on Friday in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered and opened its first location. Starbucks Workers United is seeking wage increases for baristas in an economic proposalahead of their end-of-year deadline. The union said it had a framework in place with Starbucks management since February to reach its first labor agreement and resolve outstanding legal complaints. Starbucks said in a statement Thursday the union prematurely ended bargaining sessions this week after it held more than nine sessions and bargained over 20 days since April. “After all Starbucks has said about how they value partners throughout the system, we refuse to accept zero immediate investment in baristas’ wages and no resolution of the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practices. 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 statement released by the union. In December, the company proposed no new immediate wage increases and a guarantee of only 1.5% in future years, equal to less than 50 cents an hour for most workers, the union said.

Striking through Christmas Eve

The five-day strike comes during the busy holiday season when the coffeehouse chain gets a boost from its fall and winter beverages, gift cards and drinkware products. While there are no picket locations in New Jersey, there has been picketing in Brooklyn and Long Island in New York. In Missouri, St. Louis joined the strike on Sunday. In Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh joined on Saturday and Philadelphia joined on Sunday. “The few disruptions we have experienced this week have had no significant impact to our store operations. Only a small handful of our US stores have been impacted,” Starbucks said Sunday in a statement.

What the union is demanding

In February, Starbucks said it would use the agreed-upon framework to resolve litigation related to partner benefits announced in May 2022 and the use of the Starbucks brand in an intellectual property lawsuit. The company also agreed to give credit card tipping and the previously announced benefits to union workers. Starbucks said Sunday it offers a benefits package unlike any other retailer. The company’s average pay is above $18 an hour and, when combined with its benefits package, is worth $30 an hour for baristas working at least 20 hours weekly. But the union said Starbucks management has backtracked on early progress since September, which is when Brian Niccol took on the role of CEO. The union said it filed a new unfair labor practice charge on Friday, alleging Starbucks “refused to bargain and engaged in bad faith bargaining” over economic issues. Starbucks said it cannot afford to meet the union’s wage demands, saying its “proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year year contract. This is not sustainable.” The union denied it asked for such a wage increase in proposals, CNN reported. It said Starbucks’ claim mischaracterizes and combines various separate demands. But it declined to give details about what it is seeking.