The Starbucks Union Is Bringing A 'Bargaining Table' To The Seattle Roastery

UPDATE 8/14/23: Starbucks issued an official statement in response to Workers United's latest proposed action.

Starbucks Workers United, the union of Starbucks employees across the nation, announced on August 10 that it was trying a new tactic to gain the attention of Starbucks corporate. In response to the difficulty the union organizers and members have had in getting the company to come to the proverbial table to negotiate a contract with the union, Starbucks Workers United has decided to bring the proverbial bargaining table to them.

From August 11 to August 17, union members will be sitting outside the Seattle Reserve Roastery, leaving a literal seat open for the company as they outline a core tenant of their principles and demands for the contract they're attempting to negotiate. They'll be streaming live on Twitch each day at 3:00 p.m. EST.

The union is looking to establish a contract with the company to negotiate against short staffing, unpredictable schedules, low wages, unaffordable healthcare, sexual and racial harassment, unsafe broken equipment, unfair disciple, and workplace favoritism. The union seeks to implement a legal process and neutral decision-maker for disputes, protection against unjust discipline, and seniority rights in the contract's basic workers' rights. Union members want to implement protections against racial harassment from customers, co-workers, and managers; a zero-tolerance policy against sexual harassment; and a process to fix safety issues and the establishment of a joint worker-manager safety committee. They'll also be arguing for better wages, access to a 401K, guaranteed and consistent schedules, the right to unionize, and more.

The first Starbucks store to unionize was in Buffalo, NY, in 2021. Since then, more than 340 stores, with a total of 8,500 "partner" union members, have joined. However, none of these stores have secured a collective bargaining agreement. Federal labor regulators have claimed that Starbucks reportedly refused to bargain collectively at 144 stores — which is illegal. 

Under the National Labor Relations Act, workers have been granted the right to organize a union and bargain with their employers in good faith for better wages, hours, and other conditions. The act criminalizes company actions such as threatening unionized or unionizing stores, including store closures or the use of promotions, higher pay, or other incentives to discourage unionization. However, Starbucks has repeatedly engaged in union-busting measures, closing unionized stores and cutting hours. At non-unionized stores, it has implemented some of the measures the union is attempting to bargain for, such as enabling credit card tipping and giving raises.

Charles Poulter, a barista and Workers United partner in Wisconsin, told the Minnesota Reformer in July that he believes the "Starbucks Corporation intends to ignore this union to death." Although a spokesperson from the company has claimed that it has attempted to schedule negotiations, Poulter claimed that "when they bargain with us, they do not bargain in good faith." The union's live stream is one more effort, alongside strikes and a bus tour on both coasts, to raise awareness — and to bring Starbucks to the bargaining table.

A spokesperson from Starbucks who reached out to Daily Meal, however, contended that, per the National Labor Relations Board, and because "Workers United insisted on organizing at the individual store level," respective stores are recognized as "individual bargaining unit[s]" and negotiations can only be tailored to respective locations, not on a national basis. 

"Workers United should demonstrate the same commitment to progress negotiations at the more than 300 open bargaining tables where they're representing partners as they do their table on Twitch," read Starbucks' official statement in response to the bargaining table event. "Despite the company's attempts to propose hundreds of bargaining sessions for individual stores across the country, Workers United has only met Starbucks in-person to progress negotiations for 10 stores over the past two years."