Starbucks strike: Why are the company’s employees in the US protesting?

Some members of the Starbucks workers’ union which represents more than 10,000 baristas across 525 stores in the US, walked off their jobs in multiple cities on Friday, December 20, 2024, as part of a protest.

The five-day protest ended up closing Starbucks cafes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, and will expand to Columbus, Denver, and Pittsburgh through Saturday, a report by news agency Reuters quoted the union as having said.

What’s more is that the strike could reach ‘hundreds of stores’ by December 24, the union added.

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Why are Starbucks employees protesting?

The Starbucks protest is primarily due to unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules.

The report also quoted union member Shep Searl as saying that workers had been subject to numerous unfair labor practices such as write-ups, “captive-audience” meetings and firings.

A key point for the protest was the wages. The employees receive about $21 an hour, which the union member said “would have been a great wage in 2013,” but is inadequate now, considering inflation and high living costs in a large city, especially since they rarely get 40-hour work weeks.

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Another factor is that hundreds of complaints have been filed with the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Starbucks of unlawful labor practices like firing union supporters and closing stores during labor campaigns.

Starbucks has so far, denied all wrongdoing and said it respects the right of workers to choose whether to unionize or not.

What are the demands of the Starbucks workers’ union?

The union workers’ key demands were better pay, more staffing, and better schedules

Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, with Starbucks claiming it has held more than nine bargaining sessions with the union since then, reaching more than 30 agreements on “hundreds of topics”, including the economic issues.

The Seattle-headquartered firm added that it is ready to continue negotiations, claiming the union delegates prematurely ended the bargaining session this week.

However, the union said Starbucks is yet to present a serious economic proposal with less than two weeks remaining until the year-end contract deadline.

The workers’ union had also rejected an offer with no immediate wage hike and a guarantee of a 1.5% increase in future years.

“Workers United proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year contract. This is not sustainable,” the report quoted Starbucks as having said on Friday.

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All of this comes at a time when the company’s new CEO Brian Niccol is working on turning around the brand by restoring “coffee house culture” through the overhaul of cafes and simplifying its menu among other measures.

The strike also comes at a time when Amazon workers at seven of its US facilities walked off the job on Thursday, during the holiday shopping rush.

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