First Amazon, now Starbucks—’tis the season for strikes.
Thousands of baristas at unionized Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle are preparing to go on strike after failed negotiations over a new labor contract with the company.
“TWAS THE STRIKE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!” Starbucks Workers United (SWU) announced that strikes will continue through Christmas Eve.
SWU stated, “Starbucks baristas are initiating five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company’s failure to fulfill its promises, starting in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle… and soon, across the country.”
🔥 TWAS THE STRIKE BEFORE CHRISTMAS! 🔥✊
Starbucks baristas are going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on our promised path forward, starting tomorrow in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle… and soon, from coast-to-coast. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/MXP07DJhEJ
— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024
SWU explained how the lack of a finalized labor contract by the end of the year led to the planned five-day strike:
Since February, Starbucks has repeatedly pledged publicly that they intended to reach contracts by the end of the year – but they’ve yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal.
— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024
This week, less than two weeks before their end-of-year deadline, Starbucks proposed no immediate wage increase for union baristas, and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years. 👎
— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024
Our unfair labor practice (ULP) strikes will begin Friday morning and escalate each day through Christmas Eve… unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work towards a foundational framework.
— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024
The union represents employees at more than 500 stores, a small portion compared to Starbucks’ nationwide presence of 10,000 company-operated locations.
Starbucks has faced challenges this year, with declining sales for three consecutive quarters as consumers reduce spending on higher-priced items due to inflation.
In an effort to turn things around, Starbucks appointed Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol to lead a new strategy, as the company’s shares have stagnated for five years.
It seems to be the season for strikes, with the unfortunate possibility that many of these jobs could be replaced by automation in the next decade (read “AI Will Lead To 300 Million Layoffs In The US And Europe”).
Loading…