More than 1,000 unionized Starbucks baristas in more than 40 U.S. cities are quitting their jobs because negotiations between Starbucks and the union Starbucks Workers United have stalled.
On Thursday, employees at 65 stores began an indefinite strike to coincide with the Seattle, Washington-based coffee shop chain’s Red Cup Day sales event. On this day, customers who order holiday-themed beverages will receive a free reusable cup with their purchase.
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This event typically increases foot traffic to Starbucks stores.
The coffee shop chain, which has more than 18,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada, said the impact of the strike would be limited.
More stores could soon join the strike. Starbucks Workers United has approximately 550 stores across the United States. Combined, this strike could be the largest in the coffee shop chain’s history.
Stores in cities including Seattle, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Austin and Portland will also be closed. A union spokesperson told a news conference that some stores had already closed for the day.
In an Instagram post on Thursday, the union urged consumers not to shop at any Starbucks stores “today or in the future” ahead of a nationwide rally scheduled to begin at each store at 4pm local time.
The union has filed more than 1,000 complaints with the National Labor Relations Board alleging unfair labor practices, including the firing of unionized baristas, and last week voted to authorize a strike if a contract is not reached by Nov. 13.
Starbucks said it pays an average hourly wage of $19 an hour and offers benefits such as health care, parental leave and tuition for online classes at Arizona State University to employees who work more than 20 hours a week.
Starting pay is $15.25 an hour in about 33 states, and the average barista works fewer than 20 hours a week, according to the union.
Negotiations between the union and the company lasted about eight months in 2024, but broke down in December, after which workers went on strike during a major holiday period.
“Unfortunately, stalling tactics are not uncommon in collective bargaining, as we saw at Starbucks. But the situation and the strike vote show that long-term grassroots organizing is empowering workers. There is strength in numbers,” Jennifer Abruzzo, who served as general counsel for the National Labor Relations Board under former U.S. President Joe Biden, said in remarks shared with Al Jazeera.
history of strikes
Starbucks employees have gone on strike several times in recent years, starting in 2021. Employees at a store in Buffalo, New York, became the first to unionize and then launched a nationwide movement. Currently, approximately 9,500 people, or 4 percent of Starbucks Cafe’s workforce, are employees.
In 2022, workers at about 100 stores went on strike, and in December 2024, workers at 300 stores resigned as negotiations stalled. Negotiations began again earlier this year, but the two parties have yet to reach an agreement.
In April, the union rejected Starbucks’ proposal to guarantee at least a 2% annual raise, saying it did not propose changes to economic benefits such as health care or immediate raises.
“Despite the fact that thousands of Starbucks baristas voted to engage in collective bargaining years ago, the company has manipulated the situation to avoid signing the contract,” Sharon Block, executive director of the Center on Labor and a Fair Economy at Harvard Law School, said in comments provided to Al Jazeera.
“Baristas remain strong. The strength of the strike vote shows that baristas are not giving up. They continue to demand fair treatment by the company.”
management pressure
The strike comes as Starbucks, led by CEO Brian Nicol, has cut back on corporate roles this year to control costs while closing hundreds of underperforming stores, including its unionized flagship in Seattle.
Nicol, who previously led Chipotle for six years, has emphasized improving service hours and the in-store experience to revive demand for beverages in the U.S. as sales have been flat or negative for the past seven quarters.
When Nicol took over as CEO last September, he said he would engage in dialogue.
But the union’s international president, Lynne Fox, said in a phone call with journalists that things changed with Nicol at the helm.
“It’s been a year since Mr. Nicol took office, and after months of steady progress and good faith negotiations last year, negotiations have taken a step backwards,” Fox said.
According to the AFL-CIO’s Executive Paywatch Tracker, Nicol’s total compensation in 2024 will be more than $95 million, which is 6,666 times the median employee salary. This represents the largest pay gap between CEOs and employees in the S&P 500, according to the Institute for Policy Studies’ Executive Excess Report.
But Mr. Nicol’s pay is largely determined by the performance of Starbucks stock, with $90 million coming from stock compensation. Starbucks stock has fallen about 6% since Nicol took over the company in September 2024.
On Wall Street, Starbucks stock was down 0.9% in midday trading.
