Overview
- Unionized baristas are voting on whether to authorize strikes after months of negotiations failed to produce a first contract.
- Roughly 70 pickets in about 60 U.S. cities were organized this week to pressure Starbucks during the voting period.
- Workers cite low take-home pay, short staffing and alleged unfair labor practices as key issues driving the campaign.
- Starbucks says Workers United represents about 4% of partners, claims the union walked away from talks, and says hourly partners average over $30 an hour in pay and benefits while investing $500m to boost staffing.
- Both sides report extensive but unresolved talks, with nearly 200 hours of bargaining and no agreement as the union counts more than 650 organized stores representing over 12,000 workers.