Baristas who are union members from 65 Starbucks locations nationwide in the U.S. initiated a strike on Thursday to advance their efforts to reach a collective bargaining agreement that addresses concerns about wages and staffing levels.
Since discussions collapsed in December 2024, there have been no ongoing negotiations between the union and the company. Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) reported on its website that Starbucks’ latest economic proposal presented in April was rejected by union members.
Starbucks responded to the rejection with a statement on April 25, stating, “Despite over 200 hours of negotiations and more than 130 proposals exchanged this week, Workers United opted to introduce an incomplete framework for single-store contracts for their delegates to vote on, hampering our collective progress.”
The union confirmed that over 1,000 Starbucks employees in 40 cities nationwide are currently on strike. The strike took place on Nov. 13, coinciding with Starbucks’s Red Cup Day, which usually marks the beginning of the busy holiday season for the coffee chain.
SBWU mentioned on its website that the strike followed six months of Starbucks neglecting to present new solutions to address the employees’ requests for improved staffing levels, higher pay, and resolution for numerous unfair labor practice allegations. Despite inquiries from CBC News, SBWU did not respond to comment on the strike.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson informed CBC News that the strike had caused disruptions in less than 1% of the coffeehouses under Starbucks.
Demands and Responses
The SBWU emphasized demands that Starbucks has allegedly not yet tackled, including concerns related to understaffing and wage increments.
According to the union’s website, “We have achieved much as a union … but Starbucks persists in obstructing progress during contract negotiations. It is time to find a resolution and move forward.”
Starbucks expressed disappointment over the strike, highlighting that Workers United, representing less than 4% of their partners, had opted for a strike instead of returning to the negotiation table.
SBWU argued that engaging in negotiations would be futile if Starbucks fails to propose solutions addressing the union’s demands.
Since its inception with the first unionized Starbucks shop in Buffalo, New York, in 2021, SBWU has grown to represent thousands of baristas. Currently, around 550 out of Starbucks’ approximately 17,000 U.S. locations are unionized with SBWU.
Barry Eidlin, a sociology professor at McGill University, suggested that the union’s success is linked to its grassroots approach, which differs from traditional union strategies.
Eidlin noted that although the union’s achievements in securing wage increases and improved staffing remain uncertain, its bottom-up organizational tactics have been effective in recent years.
In September, numerous Starbucks locations across North America were closed, and 900 non-retail employees were laid off.
CEO Brian Niccol addressed