Starbucks Workers United, a union under Starbucks, is set to hold a strike authorization vote on Friday, October 24th in a bid to secure the first labor contract with the Starbucks company. The voting process will last for several days, and if approved, the strike will continue indefinitely, with the specific time and manner yet to be determined.
The union announced that the voting process will span from Friday to November 1st, during which there will be 70 rallies and protest events in 60 cities. Should the union vote in favor of a strike, it would mark the third nationwide strike led by the union since December of last year.
Since the breakdown of negotiations in December 2024, there have been no substantial talks between the two parties. In February of this year, they entered into mediation, however, hundreds of Starbucks employee representatives rejected the economic resolution proposed by the company in April.
The union’s primary demands focus on three core issues: improving work schedules to alleviate staffing pressures, increasing actual wages, and addressing hundreds of unresolved allegations of unfair labor practices.
Since 2021, the union has been actively organizing activities and currently represents over 12,000 employees from more than 650 stores across the United States. However, compared to Starbucks’ over 18,000 stores in North America, the number of unionized stores is still relatively small.
Jasmine Leli, a barista from a unionized store in Buffalo, New York, expressed in an interview with CNBC, “We will do our best to fight for this contract.” She pointed out that the union estimates the company only needs to allocate the cost of one day’s average revenue to reach an agreement with the union.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson responded in a statement, saying, “The union represents only about 4% of employees but has chosen to walk away from the negotiating table. If they are willing to return, we are ready to resume discussions at any time.”
She stated that any agreement should reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job opportunities in the retail industry. “The average hourly wage of a partner is over $30. And we are investing over $500 million to schedule more partners in stores during peak hours.”
She added, “The facts show that employees enjoy working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is increasing, employee turnover rate is only half of the industry average, and we receive over a million job applications annually.”
Starbucks will release its fourth-quarter financial report next Wednesday. So far this year, the company’s stock price has dropped by 6%, and same-store sales have declined for six consecutive quarters.
Currently, the company is implementing the “Back to Starbucks” reform plan led by new CEO Brian Niccol.
The core of this plan is the “Green Apron Service,” which aims to cultivate customer dining habits at Starbucks by enhancing interaction between employees and customers. The company stated that this is the largest investment Starbucks has ever made in employee service, expecting to invest over $500 million next year.
The plan will ensure appropriate staffing levels through a series of reforms and utilize more advanced technology to provide quality service quickly.
In September of this year, Starbucks announced a roughly $1 billion restructuring plan, which included closing approximately 500 stores in North America and cutting 900 non-retail positions. The union stated that through negotiations with the company, additional compensation has been secured for 59 affected unionized stores, including laid-off employees who can still receive severance pay and extended health benefits.
Starbucks stated that during the restructuring period, quick agreements reached between the two sides reflect the company’s commitment to its employees. Furthermore, the company proactively engaged with the union to jointly develop a framework to address the impact of these changes on unionized store employees.