Starbucks strike expands to nearly 60 stores across US

10 hrs ago

Listen

Lauren Taylor Anchor

By Lauren Taylor (Anchor), Roey Hadar (Producer)

As Christmas nears, baristas at nearly 60 Starbucks locations across the U.S. have brewed up something different: a strike. The strike started Friday, Dec. 20, in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle but has grown to more cities and may last through Christmas Eve.

Bias Distribution Powered by Ground News™

It now includes locations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver and Portland, Oregon.

Starbucks Workers United, the group leading the unionization efforts in recent years, says its negotiations with the company have been more bitter than sweet.

Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.

Point phone camera here

They accuse the company of failing to honor its pledge to reach a labor agreement with the union this year. They also say the company hasn’t done enough to resolve hundreds of complaints filed by workers with the National Labor Relations Board.

“Our hope is that this will, they will come back to the bargaining table and they will give us livable wages so that we can afford to pay our rent, we can afford our groceries, we can afford to live,” said Kai Krawczeniuk, a striking Starbucks employee. “Because right now, we’re struggling. And it is not okay for this company to be making billions and billions of dollars while its employees can barely afford rent.”

Starbucks says it has committed to annual raises of at least 1.5% for unionized workers. The company says workers earn an average of $18 per hour but can get a package worth $30 an hour when factoring in benefits.

Starbucks said the strike had “no significant impact” on operations at its roughly 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.

A little over 500 of those have baristas who voted to join the union. However, the union did urge people supporting the strikes not to buy from any Starbucks location during the strike.

Tags: holidays, Labor, National Labor Relations Board, Starbucks, Strike, U.S. Economy, Unions

VOICE 1: No contract!
CROWD: No coffee!

LAUREN TAYLOR: As Christmas nears, baristas at nearly sixty Starbucks locations across the country are brewing up something a little different: a strike.

A strike through Christmas Eve that started Friday in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle has now expanded to close nearly 60 different locations.

That includes Starbucks locations in Boston, New York and some of its surrounding suburbs, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, St Louis, Dallas, Denver and Portland.

Starbucks Workers United, the group leading the unionization efforts in recent years, says its negotiations with the company have been more bitter than sweet.

They accuse the company of failing to honor its pledge to reach a labor agreement with the union by the end of this year … and say the company hasn’t done enough to resolve hundreds of complaints workers filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

Kai Krawczeniuk / Starbucks employee on strike: “Our hope is that this will, they will come back to the bargaining table and they will give us livable wages so that we can afford to pay our rent. We can afford our groceries. We can afford to live because right now, we’re struggling. And it is not okay for this company to be making billions and billions of dollars while its employees can barely afford rent.”

LAUREN TAYLOR: Starbucks says it has committed to annual raises of at least 1.5% percent for unionized workers. On average, the company says, workers earn $18 per hour but can get a package worth $30 an hour when factoring in benefits.

Starbucks said the strike had “no significant impact” on its operations of roughly 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.

A little over 500 of those have baristas who voted to join the union. But the union did urge people supporting the strikes to not buy from any Starbucks location during the strike.

For Straight Arrow News, I’m Lauren Taylor.

And for all the latest updates on this and other top stories, download the Straight Arrow News app or visit SAN.com.