Starbucks workers say they will begin strike in 3 cities on Friday: NPR

Starbucks employees and supporters react as votes are read during a 2021 union election party in Buffalo, NY. Starbucks workers voted to unionize over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new working model for the 50-year-old coffee giant.

Joshua Bessex/AP

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Joshua Bessex/AP

Starbucks employees and supporters react as votes are read during a 2021 union election party in Buffalo, NY. Starbucks workers voted to unionize over the company’s objections, pointing the way to a new working model for the 50-year-old coffee giant.

Joshua Bessex/AP

The Starbucks Workers United union says baristas are on strike for five days in three metropolitan areas because the organization and Starbucks have not agreed on a new contract by the end of the year.

The SWU says the strikes will start on Friday and last until Christmas Eve, a stretch it calls “‘That was the strike before Christmas”.

The union said some workers in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago will join the strike as Starbucks recently offered a contract that included no raises in the near future and 1.5% raises in future years.

Starbucks Workers United workers first organized in 2021 and now represent more than 10,000 employees. They are asks for a $20 minimum wage, 5% annual raises, a fair scheduling process, better health care, and improved paid leave protocols.

NPR has reached out to Starbucks. This was reported by other outlets, including The Associated Press: “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach an agreement. We need the union to return to the table.”

In February, Starbucks and the union released statements saying they had made progress in negotiations, and Starbucks said it would work in 2024 to resolve lawsuits between the company and the union and develop a fairer process for allowing workers to organize.

“Since February, Starbucks has repeatedly promised publicly that they intended to reach contracts by the end of the year – but they have yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal,” the union said.

The union said Tuesday that 98% of Starbucks Workers United members voted Tuesday to authorize a strike.

Starbucks Workers United said the strikes would continue to “escalate … unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work toward a basic framework.”