Starbucks baristas to strike in US

Admin

December 20, 2024
2 min read

A union representing over 11,000 baristas in Starbucks in the US has revealed that its members will hold a five-day strike starting on Friday, 20^th December. The strike is in dispute over pay and working conditions at the famous coffee chain.

Workers United says that the walkout will begin in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. Strike action is set to spread every day and unless a deal is reached, could affect hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve.

It comes after the union called for Starbucks to raise wages and staffing, and implement better schedules for employees.

“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in response to the strike announcement.

The company highlighted that it pays an average of over $18 (£14.40), and “best-in-class benefits” to its workers. “Taken together they are worth an average of $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week,” Starbucks said.

Workers Union says it represents employees at over 500 stores in 45 states in the US.

“It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” said Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a barista from Texas said in a statement sent to the BBC by the union.

Workers United also underlined what it considers to be an unfair pay disparity between its members and senior Starbucks bosses such as chief executive Brian Niccol. Niccol receives an annual base pay of $1.6 million and can receive a performance-related bonus of as high as $7.2 million, along with $23 million of Starbucks shares.

The company has previously defended the plan, calling Niccol “one of the most effective leaders in our industry” adding that his compensation “was directly tied to the company’s performance and the shared success of all our stakeholders.”

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