Starbucks union votes to authorize strike ahead of final bargaining talksStarbucks union votes to authorize strike ahead of final bargaining talks

Starbucks Workers United announced on Tuesday that 98% of unionized baristas have voted to authorize a strike if necessary, as bargaining reaches its final stages.

The union seeks to negotiate fair raises, benefits, and staffing, as well as to ban unfair labor practices and resolve outstanding litigation with Starbucks. 

The collective bargaining, which began in February, scheduled a final negotiation session for 2024 on Tuesday. Despite many hours at the bargaining table and dozens of tentative agreements reached, the union maintains that there are hundreds of unresolved unfair labor practice cases and that the coffee giant has yet to propose a plan that addresses baristas’ pay and benefits. Additionally, while talks to settle litigation have occurred, more than $100 million in legal liabilities remain outstanding.

“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, told Starbucks Workers United in a statement. “Right now, I’m making $16.50 an hour. Meanwhile, [CEO] 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, 40 cents an hour, which is hardly anything. It’s one Starbucks drink per week. Starbucks needs to invest in the baristas who make Starbucks run.”

Related:Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol commits to ‘engaging constructively’ with union

In October, Starbucks Workers United reached a 500-store milestone, after the Starbucks store in Bellingham, Wash., voted to join the union. While these stores represent less than .05% of all company-owned U.S. Starbucks cafes, the labor group, which has been growing for three years, has been one of the largest unionization movements in restaurant industry history.

In stark contrast to his predecessors, Niccol vowed to engage in good-faith negotiation with unionized workers earlier this year, though this strike authorization signals a potential breakdown in relations, despite appearances of improved communications between the two groups.

At the same time, Starbucks keeps rolling out new benefits for employees, like the parental leave policy that was just announced this week, which offers 18 weeks of paid parental leave for birthing parents – or double the company’s previous policy.   

"It is disappointing that the union is considering a strike rather than focusing on what have been extremely productive negotiations," Starbucks said in a statement sent to Nation's Restaurant News. "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....If the delegates want to serve the partners they represent, they need to continue the work of negotiating an agreement."

Related:Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United union begin collective bargaining process

Currently, Starbucks Workers United represents 525 stores across 45 states and the District of Columbia.

Contact Joanna at [email protected]