After several years of organizing and stalled negotiations, Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United may soon return to the bargaining table. A revised proposal from the union lowers earlier wage demands and could test whether both sides can finalize a first contract.
What happened:
Representatives of Starbucks and the union Starbucks Workers United, supported by the Service Employees International Union, appear poised to resume negotiations after months of stalled talks over a first collective bargaining agreement.
The union has submitted a revised contract proposal to restart bargaining. According to reports, key elements include:
- A $17 per hour minimum wage, down from earlier demands closer to $20
- Annual wage increases of roughly 4%
- Just-cause protections for discipline and discharge
- Minimum staffing proposals, including expectations that stores operate with at least three workers on shift
- Health and safety provisions
- A framework aimed at addressing pending unfair labor practice disputes
- Backpay demands for unionized baristas, tied to wage increases or benefits the union argues workers should have received during the bargaining period
For its part, Starbucks says it is ready to return to negotiations.
The company has proposed resuming in-person bargaining on March 30 and continuing negotiations through April, according to company spokesperson Jaci Anderson.
“At Starbucks, we are committed to all our partners, and where they have chosen union representation, we have been engaging in good faith bargaining,” Anderson said in a statement.
Since the organizing campaign began in 2021, more than 650 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, but no comprehensive first contract has yet been finalized.
Why it matters:
We have written many times about the difficulty of reaching a first collective bargaining agreement.
Winning an election is one thing. Negotiating the first collective bargaining agreement is something else entirely.
Several elements usually need to come together before an agreement becomes possible:
- Both parties must be willing to compromise
- Both sides must arrive at a realistic understanding of what a settlement looks like
Even when negotiators reach that point, there is still one final hurdle.
The members of the bargaining unit typically must vote to ratify the agreement.
Up to this point, members of Starbucks Workers United have generally held higher (unrealistic!) expectations on financial outcomes, particularly around wages.
It is possible those expectations are beginning to shift. The limited operational impact of the union’s recent “Red Cup Rebellion” work stoppage may have helped to level member expectations about the union’s current economic leverage with Starbucks.
The union’s backpay demands for baristas also highlight one of the central disputes in these negotiations: whether workers in unionized stores should receive retroactive compensation tied to improvements granted elsewhere in the company during the organizing fight.
Whether this latest proposal represents the beginning of a workable settlement remains to be seen. Time will tell.
