Starbucks workers at more than 300 locations across the United States, from Atlanta to Boston to Los Angeles, are expected to walk off the job Tuesday to pressure the coffee giant to come to the bargaining table with a just contract offer that includes a living wage, benefit improvements, and fair scheduling.
As the Christmas Eve strikes kicked off, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) wrote in a social media post that management’s latest economic offer to unionized workers, which included no immediate wage increases, indicated that the $100 billion corporation “seems to prefer investing in CEO Brian Niccol’s $113 million compensation package.”
“SBWU is demanding the company present us with a serious economic offer at the bargaining table,” the group wrote. “Workers shouldn’t struggle to pay their bills while working for one of the biggest fast-food corporations in the world.”
“If Starbucks wants to put their money where their mouth is,” SBWU added, “it’s time to invest in WORKERS the way they’re investing in rich CEOs. We demand Starbucks bargain a fair contract!”
Over 5,000 Starbucks workers have walked off the job so far as part of the latest strikes, according to one organizer.
Since the groundbreaking victory in Buffalo, New York just over three years ago, the Starbucks union movement has expanded to more than 500 stores across the U.S., with over 11,000 baristas organizing in the face of aggressive and often illegal opposition from the company’s management.
Unionized Starbucks workers are demanding a base wage of at least $20 an hour for baristas, with an elevated wage floor in high-cost-of-living areas and annual inflation adjustments.
They’re also calling for healthcare benefit improvements, protections against union-busting, and “a fair process to obtain consistent schedules.”
SBWU said Tuesday that the Christmas Eve walkouts mark the largest-ever unfair labor practice strike at Starbucks, and the organization urged customers and allies to boycott the company for the duration of the actions.
“Spread the word — and friends don’t let friends cross the picket line!” SBWU wrote on social media.
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