Starbucks said Friday it’s committed to bargaining with its unionized employees and reaching labor agreements next 12 months, a serious reversal for the coffee chain after two years fighting the unionization of its US stores.
In a letter to Lynne Fox, the president of the Employees United union, Starbucks Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said the present bargaining impasse between the 2 sides “shouldn’t be acceptable to either of us.” Kelly asked to restart bargaining in January.
“We’ll set as an ambition and hopeful goal the completion of bargaining and the ratification of contracts in 2024,” Kelly wrote within the letter.
In an announcement distributed by Employees United, Fox said she is reviewing the letter and can respond.
“We’ve never said no to meeting with Starbucks. Anything that moves bargaining forward in a positive way is most welcome,” Fox said.
Employees United said the last bargaining session between the 2 sides was May 23.
Employees United members at a Senate hearing earlier this 12 months. AP
Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of a Starbucks store in Buffalo, NY, voting to unionize. It was the primary company-owned store to affix a union in greater than three a long time.
Since then, a minimum of 370 company-owned US Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, in accordance with the National Labor Relations Board. Starbucks, helmed by CEO Laxman Narasimhan who took over in 2022, has about 9,600 company-owned stores within the US.
Employees at 19 US Starbucks stores have filed petitions with the NLRB to decertify the union because the bargaining representative at their stores, but none of those stores has voted on whether to remove the union. The NLRB can delay a decertification vote if an employer refuses to bargain.
Not less than 370 company-owned US Starbucks stores have voted to unionize Above, CEO Laxman Narasimhan. Business Wire / AP
Unionizing employees say they’re in search of higher pay, more consistent schedules and more say in issues like store safety and workload during busy times. Seattle-based Starbucks has said its stores run more efficiently if it may work directly with its employees and never through a 3rd party.
But the method has been contentious. Twice, federal courts have ordered Starbucks to reinstate employees who were fired after leading unionization efforts at their stores. Regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board have issued 120 complaints against Starbucks for unfair labor practices, including refusal to bargain and reserving pay raises and other advantages for non-union employees.
In October, Starbucks sued Employees United in federal court, demanding it stop using the name Starbucks Employees United for the group organizing its employees after that group posted a pro-Palestinian message on social media. Employees United countersued, saying Starbucks defamed the union by suggesting it supports violence. Starbucks said Friday that lawsuit is proceeding.
Unionizing employees say they’re in search of higher pay, more consistent schedules and more say in issues like store safety and workload during busy times. AP
Starbucks said Friday that its changing stance reflects its want to support all of its employees. In her letter to Fox, Kelly pledged that the corporate would respect bargaining participants and refrain from disparaging conduct or language.
But Starbucks might also be shifting its position for business reasons. It reported record revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter, which resulted in September, and its full-year revenue climbed nearly 12% to $35.9 billion.
But the corporate’s stock has fallen 10% since Nov. 16, when 5,000 employees at greater than 200 unionized Starbucks stores went on strike. Placer.ai, an analytics company, said that after a robust fall, US holiday visits to Starbucks look like down from a 12 months ago.
The corporate might also be attempting to head off an effort by the Strategic Organizing Center, a labor group, to elect three pro-union candidates to Starbucks’ board of directors next 12 months.
