Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The union representing more than 11,000 Starbucks baristas in the US says its members will go on strike for five days starting Friday morning in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
Workers United says walkouts will take place in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, and the strike will spread each day and cover hundreds of stores by Christmas unless a deal is reached with the coffee shop giant.
The union is calling on Starbucks to raise wages and staffing levels, as well as implement better schedules for its workers.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to come back to the table,” a Starbucks representative said in response to the strike announcement.
The company also highlighted that it offers average pay of more than $18 (£14.40) an hour, as well as “best-in-class benefits”.
“Combined, they cost an average of $30 an hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours a week,” it said.
Workers United says it represents workers at more than 500 stores in 45 US states.
“This is a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” Fatemeh Alhajaboudi, a Starbucks barista in Texas, said in a statement sent to the BBC by the union.
Workers United highlighted what it sees as an unfair pay disparity between its members and senior Starbucks bosses, including Executive Director Brian Nicol.
His annual salary is $1.6 million. He could also receive a $7.2 million performance bonus and up to $23 million a year in Starbucks stock.
Starbucks previously defended the plan, saying Mr. Nichol was “one of the most effective leaders in our industry” and that his compensation was “directly tied to the company’s performance and the overall success of all our stakeholders.”
Mr. Nicol joined the company in September after his predecessor Laxman Narasimhan stepped down less than two years later.
Sales of the world’s largest coffee chain are falling as it struggled with a backlash against price hikes and boycotts caused by the war between Israel and Gaza.
The Starbucks strike is happening as one of the most powerful unions in the US is organizing a protest against Amazonin a bid to put pressure on the tech giant, which is churning out packages ahead of Christmas.
The Teamsters union said Amazon delivery drivers at seven U.S. sites walked off Thursday after the company refused to negotiate a labor contract with the union.
