Starbucks Barista Strike Expands to 300 Locations: Union

• A strike by Starbucks baristas is expanding, their union said.
• The strike is expected to expand to more than 300 locations on Tuesday, it said.
• The union wants better wages and said Starbucks had not settled many unfair labor practice cases.

A strike by Starbucks workers will expand to more than 300 locations on Tuesday, a union representing the company’s baristas said.

Starbucks Workers United said Monday that walkouts would reach new locations such as Atlanta and Buffalo, as well as other locations that had not been announced, The Washington Post reported.

This means that some stores in the US’s largest coffee chain will be affected on Christmas Eve.

Starbucks workers began striking on Friday over what the union previously told BI were issues over pay and unresolved cases related to labor disputes.

The union said on social media that the company was not proposing any new pay increases for union baristas and had gone back on a path it had agreed with workers on collective bargaining and wage organizing.

“The company says they have world-class benefits and pay, but for many workers, that’s not the reality,” it said. “Starbucks workers often struggle to get hours to qualify for benefits, and annual increases don’t match the rate of inflation.”

It asked people: “While we strike, support the workers by NOT buying from Starbucks.”

More than 60 locations are temporarily closed because of the strikes, the Post reported.

Philly Workers United, a union for food service workers, said on X Monday that five unionized Starbucks locations across Philadelphia had closed the day before.

Baristas have also gone on strike in locations including Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Columbus, Denver and Pittsburgh, as BI previously reported.

The union has also shared footage of workers striking in Texas, Massachusetts, New York and Oregon.

The union said on X that the strike would “escalate every day through Christmas Eve… unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work toward a basic framework.”

The Washington Post reported that baristas are expected to return to their jobs by Christmas or the following day.

It is not clear whether strikes will resume later.

A Starbucks spokesperson told BI earlier this week that the company “offers a competitive average wage of over $18 an hour and best-in-class benefits.”

They said the company also offered competitive benefits, including “health care, free college tuition, paid family leave and company stock grants.”

The spokesperson said that “no other retailer offers this kind of comprehensive salary and benefits package.”

“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,” they added.

The company also said in a public statement that union delegates “prematurely ended” this week’s bargaining meeting and that it was “disappointing that they did not return to the table given the progress we have made to date.”

The company wrote: “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table.”

Shay Mannik, a striking barista in Denver who has worked at Starbucks for two years, told Business Insider, “We’ve been in contract negotiations with Starbucks for months now, and things have been going smoothly up until this point — where they’ve now refused to offer us a viable economic package.”

“They just haven’t offered us anywhere near a living wage.”

Starbucks has 11,161 self-operated stores and 7,263 licensed stores in North America, BI previously reported, making stores with striking workers a small percentage.

But the union said it was still the largest strike ever against Starbucks.

The union said last week that an “overwhelming” 98% of union partners had voted in favor of the strike authorization.

In a recent post on X, the union wrote, “Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol makes ~$50,000 an hour and commutes to work via private jet.”

“All the while baristas nationwide struggle to pay their rent and get the hours they need to qualify for benefits,” it added.

Brian Niccol became CEO of the company in September and has spoken out about wanting to improve conditions for the company’s baristas.

He recently announced a new parental leave policy for US employees that will increase paid leave for parents starting in March. It applies to store employees who have an average of at least 20 hours of work per week.