Starbucks Barista Strike Expands to 300 Locations in the U.S.
Workers on strike, Dec. 2024. X/ @cestleiden
December 25, 2024 Hour: 8:35 am
Our 10,000 members deserve a living wage, fair hours and affordable benefits, Starbucks Workers United said.
A Starbucks Corp. barista strike will spread to more than 300 cafes, Bloomberg News on Tuesday cited its worker union, disrupting service at locations nationwide during the holiday shopping season.
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Over 5,000 workers in cities including Boston, New York and Philadelphia will join the work stoppage on Tuesday, according to an emailed statement from Starbucks Workers United.
Elected officials, including Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, have also joined striking baristas on the picket line over previous days, with the union asking for further support on its last scheduled day of action.
The walkouts began on Dec. 20 at a handful of locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle and escalated over the following days. About 60 stores were shut down due to strikes as of Monday, the coffee chain said.
“The overwhelming number” of Starbucks’ more than 10,000 company-operated stores in the United States remained open as usual, and the “vast majority” will continue to do so, the chain said in a statement posted on the company’s website on Monday.
“Starbucks needs to come back to the bargaining table and offer an economic package that is not insulting to our 10,000 union members who deserve a living wage, fair hours and affordable benefits,” Starbucks Workers United said.
Workers have been trying to negotiate with the company since February to mainly reach wage increases within what would be the first labor agreement under the union. The company’s leadership, however, has not fulfilled its commitments and is blocking the agreement.
Starbucks Workers United won its first union election in Buffalo, New York, in December 2021. Since then, it has won the right to represent nearly 12,000 workers spread across 528 locations in the United States.
“Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol makes about US$50,000 an hour, has a private jet to commute to work from out of state, and was compensated US$113 million. Meanwhile, our pay is not keeping pace with inflation and we struggle to get the hours we need,” the union said.
Starbucks has about 11,200 coffee shops in the United States and approximately 200,000 workers. In many cases, Starbucks stores are the only ones in a wide radius of neighborhoods and cities.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua