Starbucks baristas strike in major US cities as contract talks stall

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Unionized Starbucks workers walked out of stores in Chicago, Los Angeles and the company’s hometown of Seattle on Friday, threatening to escalate strikes to pressure the company to reach a labor contract.

Three years after baristas first unionized, Workers United and Starbucks remain far apart on the terms of an initial contract. Workers United now represents more than 11,000 of the roughly 200,000 workers in company-run U.S. stores.

The layoff, expected to last five days, is the second at a major employer this week after the Teamsters union picketed seven Amazon warehouses around the country, showing how labor is trying to put pressure on management during the big holiday period. .

After years of tension and litigation, Workers United and Starbucks agreed in February to return to the bargaining table in hopes of agreeing on a contract framework by the end of this year.

Starbucks said the parties had entered into more than 30 agreements on hundreds of topics, including many financial matters. But they seemed to disagree about pay.

Workers United said this month Starbucks proposed no new pay increases for union baristas now and a guarantee of just 1.5 percent in future years. The proposal was for a guaranteed minimum wage increase for union members, Starbucks said.

The company is already planning pay increases in the 2-3 percent range by 2025 for most U.S. baristas, a smaller increase than a year ago, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Starbucks said Workers United had proposed an immediate 64 percent increase in the hourly minimum wage and a 77 percent increase over the course of a three-year contract. “This is not sustainable,” the company said.

Tensions with the union have risen as Starbucks struggles with declining sales. Brian Niccol, who took over as chief executive in September, has laid out a plan to turn the business around that includes improvements for baristas and says he wants to ensure Starbucks is “the best job in retail”.

This week, Starbucks more than doubled the amount of paid leave it offers to new parents in U.S. stores. Workers United said it had proposed the idea last month.

The union and Starbucks were scheduled for three days of contract negotiations in Los Angeles beginning Tuesday. Union delegates walked out of the talks on Wednesday, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

“Workers United delegates ended our bargaining session prematurely this week. It is disappointing that they did not return to the table given the progress we have made to date,” Starbucks said.

The union accused Starbucks of “backtracking” on promises to reach the outlines of a contract by the end of the year. It threatened to extend the strike to hundreds of stores over the next five days.

“No one wants to strike. It is a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a barista from Texas and a Workers United bargaining delegate, said in a statement released by the union.