Starbucks workers strike in US that could extend before Christmas Eve – National

Some members of the Starbucks SBUX.O labor union, which represents more than 10,000 baristas, walked off their jobs in several U.S. cities on Friday, citing unresolved pay, staffing and scheduling issues.

The five-day strike, which began Friday and closed Starbucks cafes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, will expand to Columbus, Denver and Pittsburgh through Saturday, the union said in a statement.

This is the latest in a series of industrial action that has gained momentum across the service industry after a period in which workers at manufacturers in the auto, aerospace and rail industries won significant concessions from employers.

At Starbucks, Workers United, which represents employees at 525 stores across the U.S., said late Thursday that walkouts will escalate daily and could reach “hundreds of stores” nationwide by Christmas Eve.

“An estimated 10 stores out of 10,000 company-operated stores did not open today,” Starbucks said, adding that there was no significant impact on store operations on Friday.

About 20 people joined a picket line at a Starbucks location on Chicago’s North Side, battered by snow and wind, but cheered in response to the honks of passing cars.

A few confused customers tried to enter the shuttered store before strikers began chanting, but union member Shep Searl said the reaction had been mostly positive.

Searl said 100% of unionized workers at the Starbucks location in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood participated in the strike, and according to the workers, they have faced numerous unfair labor practices, including write-ups, “captive audience” meetings and firings.

The union member said they were making about $21 an hour, adding, “that would have been a great wage in 2013.”

That’s insufficient pay, the baristas said, given inflation and the high cost of living in a big city, especially since they rarely get 40-hour work weeks.

WORKERS’ SNUB OFFER

Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on an established framework agreed in February that could also help resolve several pending legal disputes.

The firm said Thursday it has held more than nine bargaining meetings with the union since April and reached more than 30 agreements on “hundreds of topics,” including financial issues.

The Seattle-headquartered company said it is ready to continue negotiations, claiming union delegates ended the bargaining session prematurely this week.

However, the union said in a Facebook post Friday that Starbucks had yet to present a serious financial proposal with less than two weeks left until the contract deadline at the end of the year.

The labor group also rejected an offer of no immediate pay rise and a guarantee of a 1.5% rise in future years.

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“Workers United’s proposal calls for an immediate increase in the minimum wage for hourly partners by 64% and by 77% over the life of a three-year contract. This is not sustainable, Starbucks said on Friday.

In response to Starbucks’ statement on the proposals, Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista and negotiating delegate, said, “Starbucks’ characterization of our proposal is misleading and they know it. We are ready to finalize a framework that includes new investment in baristas in the first contract year.”

Separately, the baristas’ union said Friday it was filing a new labor practice charge against the coffee house, alleging Starbucks “refused to bargain and engaged in bad faith bargaining” over financial issues.

Hundreds of complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Starbucks of illegal labor practices such as firing union supporters and closing stores during labor campaigns. Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and said it respects workers’ right to choose whether to join a union.

WORKING ON A TURN

Last month, the NLRB said Starbucks broke the law by telling workers at its flagship cafe in Seattle that they would lose benefits if they joined a union.

“It (the strike) is taking place during one of the busiest times of the year for Starbucks, which could magnify its impact while bringing unwanted public scrutiny into the company’s work practices,” Emarketer analyst Rachel Wolff said.

The coffee chain is working on a turnaround under its newly appointed chief executive, Brian Niccol, who aims to restore the “coffeehouse culture” by, among other things, overhauling cafes and simplifying the menu.

“Given how much Starbucks is already struggling to win customers, they can ill afford any negative publicity — or impact on sales — that the strike might bring,” Wolff said.

The Starbucks workers’ strike comes in the same week that Amazon.com AMZN.O workers at seven U.S. facilities walked off the job on Thursday during the Christmas shopping rush.

There were 33 work stoppages in 2023, the largest number since 2000, though far lower than in recent decades, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics phow.

(Reporting by Renee Hickman in Chicago and Gursimran Kaur, Savyata Mishra and Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Chandni Shah and Rishabh Jaiswal; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila, Pooja Desai and Muralikumar Anantharaman and Diane Craft)