Starbucks unionized workers say they'll strike on Nov. 13 if coffee giant doesn't finalize contract
Starbucks unionized workers say they plan to strike on Nov. 13 — when the coffee chain will hold its annual Red Cup Day promotion — unless the company finalizes a labor contract by that date.
Starbucks Workers United announced Wednesday that its members voted to authorize a strike as they push to secure a first contract that offers them better pay and more flexible hours. Thousands of union members weighed in, with an overwhelming majority — 92% — voting in favor of the strike, according to the labor group.
The union said if Starbucks doesn't deliver a contract in the next week, the strike would begin the same day as Starbucks' Red Cup Day, an annual event intended to drum up business for the coffee giant's holiday menu.
The strike would start at coffee shops in 25 U.S. cities, with additional stores later joining in if no progress is made, according to a spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United.
"The ball is in Starbucks' court," Michelle Eisen, a union spokesperson and barista at Starbucks, said in a statement.
If the strike happens this month, it would mark the union's third national work stoppage in the past year. Workers United last protested in May over Starbucks' new dress code, and thousands also walked off the job in December 2024.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told CBS News the company is disappointed that the union voted to authorize a strike instead of coming to the bargaining table.
"When they're ready to come back, we're ready to talk," she said in a statement.
Negotiations at a standstill
Starbucks Workers United, which started in upstate New York in 2021, has grown to represent more than 9,500 baristas across 550 Starbucks cafes, still a relatively small percentage of total Starbucks workers. Overall, the company has more than 200,000 employees working in 10,000 stores across North America.
Contract negotiations between Starbucks and Workers United began in April 2024 but have bogged down. The union is asking for increased hours for workers and higher take-home pay, among other demands.
According to Anderson, the union has proposed an immediate pay increase of 65%, and 77% total over three years. The union spokesperson disputed that claim, saying the union had presented several separate wage proposals during negotiations, which Starbucks then combined as if they were a single request.
The union has also asked for added pay if they work a shift within three hours of opening or closing, during a promotional event, or over the weekend, Anderson said.
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol recently told CBS News that he's open to talking with union members, but said that their demands "to date have been unreasonable."
"We already give them the best job in retail. We have the lowest turnover in the industry — it's below 50%," he said. "We also have the best benefits in the industry, and we actually have the best wages in the industry."
Starbucks employees receive $30 an hour in pay and benefits, while store managers, or "coffeehouse leaders" as they're referred to by the retailer, are salaried.
Union members, for their part, say the pay isn't enough for them to get by.
"Our fight is about actually making Starbucks jobs the best jobs in retail," Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista from Buffalo, New York, said in a statement. "Right now, it's only the best job in retail for Brian Niccol."