Workers at Starbucks stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle will begin striking on Friday. This action follows the announcement by Starbucks Workers United, representing over 11,000 baristas nationwide, that negotiations with Starbucks over pay and working conditions have stalled. The walkouts are planned to expand daily, potentially reaching hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve, unless a deal is reached.
This strike coincides with similar worker action at Amazon. Starbucks Workers United, which has organized workers at 535 company-owned US stores since 2021, accuses Starbucks of failing to uphold a pledge to negotiate a fair agreement this year. Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, stated that union baristas recognize their value and will not accept inadequate proposals. Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a Starbucks barista and bargaining delegate, criticized Starbucks’ investment in top executive talent while failing to offer a viable economic proposal to its baristas. The union highlighted the potential $100 million-plus first-year salary for Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, contrasting it with the company’s proposed pay deal: no new wage increases for unionized workers and a mere 1.5% increase in future years.
Starbucks counters that it already offers a compensation package, including college tuition and paid family leave, valued at $30 per hour for baristas working at least 20 hours per week. The company issued a statement expressing its readiness to continue negotiations and urging the union to return to the bargaining table. This is not the first strike action by Starbucks workers. In November 2023, workers at over 200 stores walked out on Red Cup Day, and a June 2023 strike protested the banning of Pride month displays in some stores.
Baristas cite increased workload as a major concern. Understaffing, exacerbated by Starbucks’ labor allocation algorithm, coupled with complex customer orders and the demands of managing in-person, drive-thru, mobile, and delivery orders, have significantly increased job difficulty. A study cited by Bloomberg earlier this year indicated that approximately 8% of Starbucks customers now experience wait times of 15 to 30 minutes, a stark contrast to the minimal wait times prevalent in 2019.