Starbucks Workers United set to vote on strike authorization

Starbucks Workers United begins voting on a strike permit on Friday, as the union representing baristas makes a bid to sign a contract with the coffee giant.

The union also said it was planning a nationwide wave of rallies and strikes with its baristas and allies.

Voting to allow strikes at unionized cafes will be open for a few days. If approved, the strike will be open-ended and its details will be determined. The union said there would be seventy rallies and strikes in 60 cities from Friday to November 1 during the vote. If the union votes to strike, it would be the third national strike since last December.

The two sides are not in active negotiations to reach a contract after talks between them broke down in December 2024. The two sides entered mediation in February, and hundreds of barista delegates voted against the economic package Starbucks proposed in April.

Workers United says it is pushing for a contract that addresses three key issues. The union is demanding “better working hours to improve staffing”, higher take-home pay (although the pay number is not specified) and “resolution for hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practice charges”. Workers United, which started organizing at Starbucks in 2021, currently represents more than 12,000 workers in more than 650 stores. The number of unionized stores is still small, as Starbucks has more than 18,000 locations in North America, both company-operated and licensed.

“We will do whatever it takes to secure this contract,” Jasmine Leli, a barista who participated in regional and national negotiations at a unionized store in Buffalo, N.Y., told CNBC in an interview. The union, which staged a national wave of strikes in 35 cities in September and October, claims signing the contract would cost the company less than an average day’s sales.

“Workers United represents only 4% of our partners, but has chosen to leave the bargaining table. If they are ready to come back, we are ready to talk,” Starbucks spokeswoman Jaci Anderson said in a statement.

He added that any deal should reflect the fact that Starbucks already offers the best business in retail. “Hourly associates earn on average more than $30 per hour in pay and benefits, and we are investing over $500 million to put more associates in stores during peak times.”

“The facts show that people enjoy working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is on the rise, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we receive more than 1 million job applications a year,” Anderson said.

Starbucks will report fourth-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The stock is down 6% year-to-date, and same-store sales have fallen for six consecutive quarters.

The company is in the midst of a turnaround plan called “Return to Starbucks” under new CEO Brian Niccol. As part of the strategy, the company announced the rollout of Green Apron Service plans, which rely on warm and engaging interactions between baristas and customers in hopes of making Starbucks visits a habit.

The program is supported by changes to ensure appropriate staffing and better technology to keep service times faster. The company said this was driven by growth in digital orders, which now account for more than 30% of sales, and feedback from baristas.

Starbucks said the Green Apron Service move was the company’s biggest investment in hospitality and store workers. Starbucks will invest more than $500 million in hours at company-owned cafes next year, starting with the rollout of Green Apron Service, Chief Financial Officer Cathy Smith said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call. Starbucks also launched a pilot program for the assistant store manager position in late September. There are now 62 assistant store managers in newly created leadership roles across six regions. The company says 90% of these hires are internal promotions.

Staffing has been an ongoing challenge for organized baristas. Niccol has faced less scrutiny than his union predecessors, namely former CEO Howard Schultz, who took a more combative approach.

In September, the company announced a $1 billion restructuring plan that included closing about 500 stores in North America and laying off 900 workers in non-retail jobs, according to analysts’ estimates. The union said it negotiated and provided workers with additional benefits, including severance pay and extended health benefits, at the 59 union stores that closed as a result of the restructuring, even if they rejected the transfer offer.

During the restructuring, Starbucks said in a statement: “Given the industry-leading offer available to impacted partners, including reassignment opportunities where available and generous severance pay, we were able to quickly reach out to and engage Workers United to similarly assist represented partners through this transition. This reflects our commitment to caring for partners.”

The company added that it reached out to Workers United to work on a framework for how the changes would affect baristas at union cafes.