Asserting contract negotiations have soured under new Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, the union representing 10,000 of the coffee chain’s employees has called for the baristas of stores in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago to commence a strike tomorrow.
Members of Starbucks Workers United (SWU) involved in the contract negotiations said they expect more than the employees of the organized stores in those markets to participate in the job action, and for the walkout to eventually spread beyond the three initial areas. The union is providing members with instructions on how to convince the staffs of non-unionized stores to take part.
The expectation, it said, is that participation will continue to escalate until Christmas Eve, or Tuesday, Dec. 24. It was not clear if the group will halt the walkout at that point or extend it until it wins concessions from management.
The union has convened what it termed strikes at least twice before. Yet those intended shows of force proved little more than publicity events, with few members participating relative to the number of Starbucks employees who belonged to the union.
But there are differences this time around. The SWU announced earlier this week that it had been formally authorized by membership for the first time to call a strike if negotiations should remain deadlocked.
In recent days, union representatives have also been more critical of the Starbucks’ executives participating in the negotiations than they have been for months. They voiced a particular dislike of Niccol, who joined Starbucks as CEO in September after holding the same post at Chipotle Mexican Grill.
When he joined the back-and-forth with SWU, “we noticed that a warm and fuzzy feeling started to chill at the bargaining table,” said Jasmine Leli, one of the 500 Starbucks baristas who is negotiating on behalf of the drink chain’s workers.
She and others characterized Niccol as being haughty and dismissive. Leli recounted how negotiators had complained that Starbucks was only willing to grant employees six weeks of parental leave under a new contract. According to Leli, Niccol was asked by one of the parents on the negotiating team why she was entitled to only six weeks of leave to care for a newborn when he and other executives got 18 under their employment packages.
Days later, Leli continued, Starbucks’ home office announced that all employees who work more than 20 hours per week would be entitled to 18 weeks of paid leave after giving birth. Those who adopt or take in a foster child will be granted 12 weeks.
“After hearing from some partners who shared the leave as new parents wasn’t adequate, we reviewed the program and have decided we’re making a change,” Niccol said Monday in a letter posted on the company’s website.
“We’re so glad we inspired him,” Leli cracked during the conference call convened by SWU Thursday night to announce the strike.
All in all, “management didn’t come to be serious,” said Leli. “They offered us an abysmal 2% raise, with no increase in health benefits.”
According to Starbucks, the union was looking for an off-the-bat 66% wage increase and a 77% rise over the three years that would be covered by the labor contract. Increases of that scale, the company says, are not sustainable.
Leli and other baristas-turned-negotiators who announced the strike last night said management’s intransigence had left the union no choice but to strike.
"The vibe in the room was pretty remarkable when the company gave us their counter economic offer,” said one. “It was truly something to behold. We all just immediately realized that we would have to fight.”
The union's negotiators cut the session short by walking out, according to Starbucks.
In a statement issued to Restaurant Business earlier this week in response to the vote authorizing a strike, Starbucks spokesman Paul Gee disputed the SWU’s characterization of the negotiations.
“Since April we’ve scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where we’ve reached 30 meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues,” Gee said in a prepared statement.
“We remain committed to working together and committed to reaching a final framework agreement. This is our goal,” he continued. “If the delegates want to serve the partners they represent, they need to continue the work of negotiating an agreement.”
The announcement to strike came two days after what the SWU said beforehand would the last negotiating session of 2024.
Starbucks could not be reached for further comment because of the late hour at which the strike was announced.
Second only to McDonald’s among restaurant chains ranked by sales volume, Starbucks operates 11,161 cafes and franchises or licenses another 7,263 cafes in the North America.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.