SEATTLE (dpa-AFX) - The ongoing strike at coffee retail giant Starbucks Corp. by its baristas has been expanded to nine states as of Sunday, according to the Starbucks Workers United union.
The five-day strike began on Friday at Starbucks locations in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle- its hometown- seeking wage increases for baristas. The workers in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania locations joined on Saturday, while union workers in Missouri, New Jersey and New York began their strike on Sunday.
Starbucks Workers United, which represents more than 10,000 workers at over 525 stores, said it expects the strike to reach hundreds of stores by Tuesday.
While announcing the planned strike till December 24, the union on its X platform had stated that Starbucks baristas were going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on its promised path forward, and that the strike, which starts from 3 locations, would move coast-to-coast.
The union, which is trying to reach a deal with the firm for baristas ahead of their end-of-year deadline demanding better pay and benefits, improved working conditions, and enhanced protective measures at work, said it had a framework in place with the company management since February.
But, according to them, the Starbucks management allegedly backtracked on early progress since September after Brian Niccol took charge as Starbucks CEO.
The union said it filed a new unfair labor practice charge recently, accusing Starbucks of refusing to bargain and engage in bad faith bargaining over economic issues.
Meanwhile, Starbucks reportedly said before the strike that the union prematurely ended bargaining sessions after more than nine sessions and bargaining of over 20 days since April. The company also said it cannot afford to meet the union's wage demands, noting that the 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 is not sustainable.
Starbucks' average pay is above $18 an hour, which is worth $30 an hour when combined with its benefits package for baristas working at least 20 hours weekly.
In the latest statement released by the union, Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, said, 'We were ready to bring the foundational framework home this year, but Starbucks wasn't. 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.'
The strike is likely to impact the coffee chain at the busiest time of its business during the ongoing holiday season. Starbucks in its latest fourth quarter had reported weak earnings below market estimates, following a 3.2% drop in revenues.
The new CEO, Niccol, following his appointment had announced priorities for his initial days, with a view to focusing on improving the coffee giant's U.S. business before moving to the international markets. In an open letter, he had pointed out the firm's drift from its core, and presented a plan for the first 100 days to re-establish Starbucks as the community coffeehouse.
Meanwhile, his travel 1,000 miles to Seattle headquarters from California, where he lives, on the company's corporate jet has been criticised by majority of its workers.
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