03-05-2024
Since Starbucks stores began unionizing in 2021, relations between those unionized employees and the company have been rocky. These employees accused the company of retaliating against them and not entering good-faith negotiations. Federal labor officials asserted that Starbucks violated federal labor law on several occasions.
Starbucks denies those accusations. However, both sides are signaling positive changes. Starbucks and the union say they are beginning discussions on a "foundational framework" to negotiate the terms and conditions of work and will hopefully end pending litigation. The company issued a statement signaling that the parties want to negotiate and ratify contracts in 2024 along with a "fair process for organizing." Two union stores will now receive benefits given to other stores in 2022, including a wage hike and the option for customers to tip via credit card.
Both parties hope to be at the bargaining table over the next few weeks. Workers expressed surprise about Starbucks' perceived change of course to the New York Times. An expert told the NYT that if Starbucks enters into agreements with the union, it could impact similar union attempts at Amazon and Apple. However, this expert expressed reservations and is waiting to see whether Starbucks moves forward in good faith. Starbucks does have a new CEO, who has been in place just about a year. The previous CEO made his anti-union stance very clear. The new CEO stated he wants to improve employee relations. The breakthrough statement from the parties came during mediation on the pending lawsuits.