Nationwide holiday strikes hit Starbucks

Seattle

Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) opened up a series of “rolling strikes” across the country on Dec. 20 to run for five days. This latest strike action opened up after over three years of workers organizing and Starbucks’ failure to agree to a contract the union can accept. The promise from Starbucks’ latest CEO, Brian Niccol, for a fair contract by the end of this year has not happened.

Workers struck five stores in the Seattle area on the first day of the strike. SBWU said the strike, authorized by the union’s membership, was projected to escalate each day, affecting hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve. 

The Starbucks struggle, along with the Amazon workers’ holiday strikes, catch the U.S. bosses off guard as they preoccupy themselves with genocidal wars in West Asia. This is adding to the capitalist crisis, especially for Starbucks, whose former CEO and chief stockholder, Howard Schultz, has been heavily involved in supporting Israel’s colonization project.

SBWU has spent hundreds of hours in negotiations with the company. The union is demanding an immediate and substantial increase in the Starbucks minimum starting wage, with increases over the life of the first contract. Workers want more predictable scheduling, guaranteed minimum hours for workers and full-time status for those who work 32 hours a week, along with other demands. 

The union is fighting back against Starbucks’ union-busting labor law violations. The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint in December 2023 demanding that Starbucks reopen a number of union stores that it had shuttered to intimidate union supporters. Eight of these stores are in Seattle.

SBWU President Lynne Fox said: “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 outstanding unfair labor practices.” (msn.com, Dec. 20)

Starbucks workers shut down the Reserve Roastery, a tourist attraction near downtown Seattle, on Dec. 20. Only one worker showed up for work. The Roastery has over 100 unionized workers. Starbucks workers will be striking all five days of the strike in Seattle. 

On the picket line strikers chanted, “Workers united, give them holy hell. It’s not just our right, but our duty to rebel!” and “No contract, no Coffee! No workers, no Starbucks!” They received much support, from honks of passersby to pizza donations.

Also, baristas at the front of the Starbucks world headquarters in Seattle just voted in SBWU! This adds to the over 520 stores where workers have thus far joined the union.