Some members of the labor union representing more than 10,000 baristas at Starbucks in the United States have begun a five-day strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, citing unresolved issues over wages, personnel and schedules.
The strike, which began Friday, is the latest in a series of U.S. labor actions that have quickly spread across service industries after a period when workers at auto, aircraft and railroad manufacturers won concessions. large from employers.
The Starbucks Workers United union, which represents workers at 525 stores across the US, said late Thursday that walkouts would increase daily and reach “hundreds of stores” across the country by Christmas Eve.
“It is estimated that 10 out of 10,000 company-operated stores did not open today,” Starbucks said, adding that there was no significant impact on store operations on Friday.
About 20 people joined a picket line at a Starbucks location on Chicago's north side, battered by snow and wind, but cheering in response to the honks of passing cars.
A few distraught customers tried to walk into the closed shop before strikers started chanting, but union member Shep Searl said the response had been mostly positive.
Searle said 100 percent of the unionized workers at the Starbucks location in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood are participating in the strike and, according to the workers, they have been subjected to a number of unfair labor practices. including writing, “captive audience” meetings and shooting. . (A captive audience meeting is a mandatory meeting organized by a company where employees are interested in unionizing and includes labor relations consultants to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of union.)
Union members said they made about $21 an hour and said this “would have been a big wage in 2013.”
It's an inadequate salary, the baristas said, given inflation and the high cost of living in a city, especially since they rarely get 40-hour work weeks.
“We plan to increase if we have to,” they said.
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Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on an established framework agreed in February, which could help resolve several pending legal disputes.
The company said on Thursday that it has held more than nine bargaining sessions with the union since April, and reached more than 30 agreements on “hundreds of topics”, including economic issues.
The company, headquartered in Seattle, said it was ready to continue negotiations, saying union representatives ended the bargaining session early on this week.
The union, however, said in a Facebook post on Friday that Starbucks had yet to present a real economic proposal with less than two weeks left until the end of the year contract deadline.
The labor group also rejected an offer of no immediate wage increase and a promise of a 1.5 percent increase in future years.
“Workers United's proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum hourly wage of associates by 64 percent, and 77 percent over the life of the three-year contract. This is not sustainable,” Starbucks said Friday.
Hundreds of complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Starbucks of illegal labor practices such as firing union supporters and closing stores during labor strikes. Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and said it respects workers' right to choose whether to unionize.
Last month, the NLRB said Starbucks broke the law by telling workers at its flagship cafe in Seattle that they would lose benefits if they joined a union.
“It (the strike) is taking place at one of the busiest times of the year for Starbucks, which could increase its impact while bringing unsolicited public scrutiny to the company's labor practices,” Rachel said. Wolff, an analyst with market researcher Emarketer.
The coffee chain is undergoing a change under its new boss Brian Niccol, who aims to restore “coffee house culture” by revamping cafes and simplifying the menu, among other measures another.
“Given how much Starbucks is already struggling to win over customers, it cannot afford the negative publicity – or impact on sales – that the strike could provide,” Wolff said.
The union has called for support at the picket lines in the three cities starting at around 18:00 GMT, according to a post on X.
The Starbucks workers' strike comes in the same week as Amazon employees at seven US facilities walked off the job, Thursday, during their holiday shopping trip.
There were 33 layoffs in 2023, the most since 2000, although it was far lower than in previous decades, data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
