Unionized baristas from 65 Starbucks locations in the United States initiated a strike on Thursday to reinforce their efforts in securing a collective bargaining agreement that addresses wage and staffing issues.
Negotiations between the union and the company have been inactive since discussions broke down in December 2024. Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) stated on their website that Starbucks presented a new economic package in April, but it was rejected by union members.
Responding to the vote, Starbucks released a statement on April 25, mentioning that despite extensive negotiations and numerous proposals exchanged, Workers United opted to submit an incomplete framework for single-store contracts to their representatives for voting, hindering the progress made collectively.
More than 1,000 Starbucks workers from 40 cities in the U.S. are participating in the strike, as reported by the union. The strike coincided with Starbucks’s Red Cup Day on Nov. 13, a significant sales event that marks the beginning of the holiday season.
The strike follows six months of Starbucks not addressing workers’ demands for improved staffing, higher wages, and resolution of unfair labor practices, as stated by SBWU on their website. When contacted for comment on the strike, SBWU did not respond to CBC News by the time of publication.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson informed CBC News that “less than 1 per cent” of Starbucks locations were experiencing disruptions due to the strike action.
The demands highlighted by SBWU, which Starbucks has allegedly not addressed, include concerns about understaffing and wage increases. SBWU emphasized the need to make progress in negotiations with Starbucks to move forward collectively.
Starbucks expressed disappointment that Workers United, representing less than four percent of their partners, called for a strike instead of returning to the bargaining table. SBWU emphasized that negotiating without proposals addressing their demands would be futile.
Since its inception with the first unionized Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, in 2021, SBWU has expanded to represent thousands of baristas. Currently, 550 out of around 17,000 Starbucks locations in the U.S. are unionized with SBWU.
Barry Eidlin, a sociology professor at McGill University, attributed the union’s growth to its grassroots model, which differs from traditional union approaches. While the union’s success in achieving wage increases and better staffing remains uncertain, Eidlin acknowledged their significant accomplishments through grassroots efforts.
In September, numerous Starbucks locations across North America were closed, and 900 non-retail employees were laid off. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol acknowledged the impact on partners and customers, emphasizing the difficulty in closing any location given their community importance.
In May, United Steelworkers (USW), representing Starbucks workers in Canada, announced that workers at five Ontario Starbucks locations ratified their first union-led collective agreement. Prior to that, Starbucks closed its sole unionized store in Vancouver in 2023, prompting a complaint from USW Local 2009.
Despite the B.C. Labour Relations Board finding Starbucks had legitimate reasons for closing the Vancouver store, it concluded that the company had wrongly threatened an employee for unionization efforts. USW, representing 225,000 workers in Canada, stated that the demands of the U.S. striking workers are reasonable and essential for a healthy workplace, urging Starbucks to negotiate in good faith.
