Starbucks Workers United announced Tuesday that 98 percent of its union baristas have authorized a potential strike.
The move comes ahead of the last negotiation session of the year on Tuesday.
The union represents more than 525 U.S. stores and more than 11,000 employees in 45 states and Washington, D.C. Starbucks union partners have not decided when to go on strike.
Since Workers United and Starbucks announced a path forward earlier this year, both sides have engaged in hundreds of hours of bargaining and countless hours of preparation for each session since, the union said. The two parties have advanced dozens of tentative agreements at the table.
However, Workers United also noted hundreds of unfair labor practice lawsuits have not been resolved and that Starbucks hasn’t proposed a comprehensive economic package to address pay and other benefits. The union is demanding improvements around wages, health and safety, and guaranteed and consistent schedules, among several other proposals.
More than $100 million in legal liabilities remain outstanding, according to the union.
“It’s time to finalize a foundational framework that includes meaningful investments in baristas and to resolve unfair labor practice charges,” Silvia Baldwin, a Philadelphia barista and bargaining delegate, said in a statement. “Right now, I’m making $16.50 an hour. Meanwhile, Brian Niccol’s compensation package is worth $57,000 an hour. The company just announced I’m only getting a 2.5% raise next year, $0.40 an hour, which is hardly anything. It’s one Starbucks drink per week. Starbucks needs to invest in the baristas who make Starbucks run.”
Starbucks said in a statement that it’s disappointed the union is considering a strike rather than focusing on “extremely productive negotiations.”
“Since April we’ve scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where we’ve reached thirty meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues,” Starbucks said in a statement. “We remain committed to working together and committed to reaching a final framework agreement. This is our goal. If the delegates want to serve the partners they represent, they need to continue the work of negotiating an agreement.”
In February, the two sides announced they would start working toward collective bargaining agreements, resolution of legal matters, and a fair process for union organizing. As part of the truce, the coffee giant agreed to provide employees represented by Workers United with credit card tipping and other benefits announced in May 2022, including pay bumps for tenured workers and further investments in managers.
Two months later, Starbucks and Workers United discussed contract bargaining over a two-day session in Atlanta. At the time, the coffee giant said the bargaining committees “made significant process” and worked toward “the foundational framework that will contribute to single-store contract negotiations and ratification.”
New CEO Brian Niccol seemed to reaffirm the progress in a September letter. The executive wrote, “I deeply respect the right of partners to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union. If our partners choose to be represented, I am committed to making sure we engage constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents.”
Stores have been organizing since December 2021, when a group of Buffalo locations first made the move.
On Tuesday, Starbucks employees at the SoDo Reserve, located within the company’s Seattle headquarters, voted to unionize 21-14.
The announcement comes a day after Starbucks said it would expand paid parental leave. Birth parents will receive up to 18 weeks of full paid leave, and non-birth parents will receive up to 12 weeks. Currently, employees receive six weeks of paid parental leave. The move will begin in March 2025 for those working an average of 20 hours per week or more.
