This strike was one of many in more than a dozen metro areas across the country asking for higher wages for baristas.
DENTON, Texas — About two dozen Starbucks employees picketed outside a Denton location Monday as part of a nationwide strike by baristas asking for higher wages after the company gave its new CEO a historic $113 million pay deal.
The strike at the location, 1445 W. University Drive, was one of more than a dozen across the country by Workers United partners. Along with DFW, other strikes took place in metros like Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Five days of escalating strikes were launched Friday after the union says Starbucks backtracked on a path agreed to with union workers.
“Nobody wants to strike. It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us w ith no choice,” Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a 5-year Starbucks barista from Texas and bargaining delegate, said in a statement. “In a year when Starbucks invested so many millions in top executive talent, it has failed to present the baristas who make its company run with a viable economic proposal and resolve the pending unfair labor practices. This is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to get the company to honor the commitment it made to us in February.”
Both Starbucks and the union have engaged in hundreds of hours of bargaining and preparation since announcing a path forward earlier this year after Starbucks repeatedly pledged to reach contracts by the end of the year, with dozens of tentative agreements presented, but the union says Starbucks hasn’t yet presented baristas with a serious economic proposal.
According to the union, Starbucks proposed a package this week with no new wage increases for union baristas right now, and only a 1.5% guarantee in future years, less than 50 cents an hour for most baristas.
“We were ready to bring the foundational framework home this year, but Starbucks wasn’t,” said Lynne Fox, President of Workers United, in a statement. “After all Starbucks has said about how they value partners throughout the system, we refuse to accept zero immediate investment in baristas’ wages and no resolution of the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practices. Union baristas know their value, and they’re not going to accept a proposal that doesn’t treat them as true partners.”
Starbucks Spokesperson Phil Gee said in a statement that the few disruptions the coffee chain has experienced this week haven’t had a significant impact on operations and that only a small handful of stores have been impacted.
“We respect our partners’ right to engage in lawful strike activity, and we appreciate the thousands of partners across the country who are continuing to support each other and deliver the Starbucks experience for our customers,” Gee said in a statement.
Gee further said that Workers United delegates prematurely ended the last bargaining session, and said Starbucks has reached more than 30 agreements on topics delegates said were important to them since April.
“Workers United proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64% and by 77% over the life of a three-year year contract,” Gee said in a statement. “This is not sustainable.”
Gee said Starbucks is ready to continue negotiating and needs the union to return to the table.
Starbucks announced in August its new CEO, Brian Niccol, would receive about $113 million in total compensation, four times larger than that of the previous CEO.