Representing the labor union Starbucks Baristas across the country announced that members in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle will go on strike in the days leading up to Christmas.
Workers United, which has unionized more than 525 Starbucks locations in the U.S., said in a press release Thursday that unfair labor practices and stalled negotiations with the company are behind the holiday strike.
The union says five days of escalating strikes will begin on Friday and run until December 24 in “the company’s three priority markets” on what the company said are its busiest days of the year.
During the strike, the walkouts are “expected to expand daily and ultimately reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve,” unless the company fulfills its February commitment to the union.
Members and supporters of the Starbucks Workers United union picket outside a Starbucks coffee shop in New York, U.S., on Thursday, November 16, 2023. Starbucks Corp. baristas went on strike Thursday, saying the coffee chain is rightfully refusing. negotiate with their union. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
In February 2024, Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work out a “basic framework” for collective bargaining in stores, which the union says has not materialized.
Starbucks said in a statement Thursday after the strike announcement that Workers United representatives had “shortly concluded” this week’s bargaining session with the coffee giant.
Starbucks added that the company is “focused on improving” employee experiences by offering an average wage of $18 an hour and benefits including health care, free college tuition, paid family leave and company stock grants.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements,” Starbucks said, and “we need the union back to the table.”
However, while Workers United has “repeatedly pledged publicly” that it plans to secure contracts by the end of the year, Starbucks has yet to present a “serious economic proposal” to workers.
Members and supporters of the Starbucks Workers United union picket outside a Starbucks coffee shop in New York, U.S., on Thursday, November 16, 2023. Starbucks Corp. baristas went on strike Thursday, saying the coffee chain is rightfully refusing. negotiate with their union. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Nobody wants to go on strike. It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken a promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, Starbucks barista and bargaining representative for five years, said in a statement.
“Starbucks has invested so many millions in top executive talent that the baristas running their company have not been able to come up with a viable financial proposition. This is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to get the company to honor the commitment it made to us in February,” he added. says Alhadjaboodi.
“The holiday season is supposed to be magical at Starbucks, but for too many of us there’s a darker side to peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes,” said Arloa Fluhr, a bargaining manager who has worked at Starbucks for 18 years. let go
“I’m a mother of three, including my own diabetic daughter. I know what it’s like to panic because my hours have been cut and I won’t be able to pay my bills and lose access to health care, including my daughter’s insulin. That’s why we stand firm at Starbucks baristas like me to invest,” added Fluhr.
ABC News’ Zunaira Zaki contributed to this report.
