The labor union representing more than 10,000 Starbucks bartenders said they have authorized a possible strike ahead of this year’s final round of talks with the coffee giant on Tuesday.
Workers United, which has a negotiating delegation representing workers at 525 Starbucks stores in the United States, said the coffee giant has yet to bring a comprehensive economic package to the table, while hundreds of legal disputes over unfair labor practices remain unresolved. .
The union, which has asked Starbucks to raise wages and staff at its stores as well as implement better hours, said it had not yet decided when it would go on strike.
Starbucks said in an emailed statement that the union’s move to authorize the strike was disappointing and that it was committed to reaching a final framework agreement.
Negotiations between Starbucks and Workers United began in April over a “basic framework” to guide collective bargaining in the country and potentially resolve pending legal disputes.
The company said it had planned and attended more than eight bargaining sessions with Workers United delegates since April and reached 30 agreements on “dozens of topics.”
The previous round of negotiations took place in September, just weeks after former Chipotle Mexican Grill head chef Brian Niccol was unexpectedly named Starbucks boss.
Ahead of the September talks, Nicol, in response to a letter from some baristas from the negotiating delegation, said he was committed to “engaging constructively” with the union.
This week, Starbucks increased its paid paternity leave to 18 weeks from 6 weeks for workers in its more than 11,000 company-operated stores, effective from March.
The coffee chain is in the midst of a turnaround as Niccol works to bring back the “coffee culture” at Starbucks by implementing an overhaul of its coffee shops, adding more comfortable seating, reducing customer wait times to less than four minutes and simplifying its menu. .
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