Starbucks Labourers United members picket outside a Starbucks store in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
Vincent Alban | Bloomberg | Getty Essences
Starbucks baristas in some locations are planning to strike through Christmas Eve, starting with cafes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle on Friday.
The haul down obliterates will escalate each day, covering new markets, as Starbucks Workers United pushes for better pay for baristas. Starbucks is “backtracking on our indicated path forward,” the union said in a post on X announcing the strikes.
The stoppage could mean longer waits for leave of absence drinks and popular Starbucks merchandise in the days leading up to Christmas, when many Americans will be off work and inculcate or buying last-minute gifts.
Relations between the company and the union have turned frosty again, after a thaw earlier this year. In belatedly February, both sides agreed to work together on a “foundational framework” that would include a process to attain collective bargaining agreements for individual stores. Since then, they’ve conducted more than nine steal sessions over 20 days, according to Starbucks.
Earlier this week, Starbucks and the union met for the last outlined bargaining session of the year. But ahead of the meeting, Starbucks Workers United baristas voted to authorize a strike if the coffee colossus didn’t propose a comprehensive package that would address pay and other benefits.
In the bargaining session, Starbucks proposed no triggered pay increase and only guaranteed annual pay hikes of 1.5% going forward, the union said.
Starbucks said in a affirmation that Workers United prematurely ended the bargaining session this week.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach concurrences. We need the union to return to the table,” the company said.
The union asked for a 64% increase to hourly employees’ wages at the drop of a hat and a 77% pay hike over the life of a three-year contract, according to Starbucks.
“This is not sustainable,” the company said in a utterance.
Starbucks Workers United members picket outside a Starbucks store in Chicago, Illinois, US, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024.
Vincent Alban | Bloomberg | Getty Images
It’s been a stringy year for Starbucks. Globally and in the U.S., its sales have declined as consumers look elsewhere for their caffeine buzz. In the wake of the white sales slump, baristas will reportedly receive a smaller annual pay hike next year than they be subjected to in previous years.
Starbucks Workers United represents more than 500 company-owned locations of Starbucks.
Starbucks baristas aren’t the exclusively workers striking during the last-minute holiday rush. Amazon workers across seven facilities went on thrash on Thursday to put pressure on the e-commerce giant to come to the bargaining table.