Starbucks and the union representing thousands of its employees said on Thursday that they were bringing in a mediator in a push to revive contract talks, which had stalled over an impasse on wage increases.
In a joint statement, the two sides said that they had made progress over the last nine months, and that they were “committed to continuing to work together — with a mediator’s assistance — to navigate complex issues and reach fair contracts.”
Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks workers at more than 500 company-owned stores across the United States, had hoped to finalize a framework by the end of 2024 that would form the basis of contracts at individual unionized stores. But Starbucks did not offer a substantial wage increase during the latest bargaining session in December, the union said. At the time, the company called the union’s wage proposals “not sustainable.”
The standoff prompted a five-day strike that began in about 10 to 15 stores in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago and spread to dozens more in major cities during the busy holiday season, union representatives said at the time.
The union effort at Starbucks began in Buffalo in 2021, and about 5 percent of the chain’s company-owned U.S. locations have now organized. Federal regulators have accused the company of violating labor law hundreds of times in its efforts to clamp down on union organizing. Starbucks has denied the accusations.
Last February, after months of stalled talks, Starbucks signaled a shift in its approach to the labor campaign under a newly installed chief executive, Laxman Narasimhan, who agreed to begin contract discussions.
But what the union viewed at the time as a notable change in strategy has failed to yield an agreement. After monthly bargaining sessions began in April, both sides said they hoped to complete a framework for a national contract by the end of the year — a deadline they ultimate did not meet. Mr. Narasimhan left the company in August.
A framework, and subsequent contract ratifications at Starbucks stores across the country, would represent a notable development in labor relations in corporate America. Major companies, including Amazon and Apple, have resisted union organizing in recent years to varying degrees.
Starbucks and Workers United have reached agreements on dozens of issues related to work conditions, the union said at the end of last year. But they remain at odds on key economic provisions. In the most recent bargaining session in December, the company offered to guarantee baristas a wage increase of at least 1.5 percent a year.
“We are optimistic that Starbucks will move off of their fixed position on wage and benefits improvements in this next phase of negotiations,” Michelle Eisen, a longtime Starbucks barista who has helped lead the organizing, said in a statement on Thursday.
A Starbucks spokesman declined to comment beyond the joint statement.
In filing for union elections, Starbucks workers have also cited frustration over understaffing and insufficient training, problems that appeared to intensify during the pandemic. Workers United pointed to “fair raises, benefits and staffing” as key concerns driving the strike in December.
This week, Brian Niccol, who became the chain’s chief executive in September, outlined strategic decisions that appear to be partly aimed at appeasing employees, most of whom have not yet unionized. He told Wall Street analysts and investors that Starbucks had increased work hours at 3,000 stores where he said staffing “had gotten too thin.” The company’s moves to simplify its menu and smooth out its mobile ordering systems, he said, are partially geared toward improving work conditions.
Noam Scheiber contributed reporting.
