In a significant development for labor rights, Starbucks baristas in Durham, North Carolina, and Providence, Rhode Island, voted in favor of unionizing this week.
This move has escalated the total count of unionized Starbucks stores across the United States to 369, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing efforts of Starbucks employees to unionize.
Starbucks Requests Renewed Talks as Barista Union Votes Increase
Just a few days after the latest unionization votes at Starbucks were counted, the company reached out to Lynne Fox, head of the union, which includes Starbucks Workers United, proposing to start contract talks again in early 2024.
In a recent message to Lynne Fox, president of the Workers United union, Sara Kelly, Chief Partner Officer at Starbucks, voiced concern about the ongoing talk impasse. Kelly suggested that negotiations start again in January, saying that the current stalemate shouldn't be okay for either side. In her message, she said she wanted to see all contracts and negotiations over by 2024.
Fox said in a statement from Workers United that she is thinking about the letter and plans to write back. She clarified that the union has always been willing to talk with Starbucks and would be happy to take any steps to help the bargaining process move forward.
Relations between Starbucks and its unions have been quite tense. The coffee giant faces allegations of delaying tactics and trying to undermine the unions. Starbucks insists that any talks with the unions must happen in person.
Moreover, the company took legal action against Starbucks Workers United last October, claiming the union wrongly used its name and a logo that's too similar. Since the first Starbucks workers in Buffalo, New York, formed a union in December 2021, no labor contract has been finalized.
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Starbucks Strikes Escalate Over Union Rights and Workplace Conditions
Starbucks employees staged a strike in March, protesting the company's supposed efforts to resist union formation. They struck again in the summer, upset over limited LGBTQ+ representation, particularly regarding restrictions on Pride decorations. In November, they organized the biggest strike in Starbucks' history, demanding better pay and working conditions.
A report released on Wednesday (Dec. 13), prepared by an independent group hired by Starbucks, revealed that while the company isn't against negotiating with unions, it was caught off guard by the employees' unionization push.
In Rhode Island, a Starbucks store unanimously decided on Tuesday (Dec. 12) to join Starbucks Workers United, becoming the first in the state to do so, as reported by The Providence Journal.
Meanwhile, a store in North Carolina followed suit, becoming the third in that state to unionize, according to The News & Observer.
A Buffalo, New York, Starbucks location became the first company-operated business in over 30 years to unionize two years ago.
Since that historic event, the National Labor Relations Board reports that 370 of the 9,600 company-owned Starbucks stores in the U.S. have unionized.
Starbucks employees at 19 nationwide outlets asked the NLRB to end their union representation, but no votes have been taken. If an employer doesn't bargain fairly, the NLRB can delay decertifying a union.
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