Starbucks has made contact with the union representing numerous U.S. stores, seeking to repair its tense rapport with certain frontline employees, as revealed in a letter observed by Reuters on Friday.
In an email to Reuters last month, Starbucks conveyed that the Workers United union had not participated in contract bargaining for over five months.
Representing over 9,000 Starbucks employees across approximately 360 U.S. stores, the union has been advocating for improved wages, staffing, and schedules from the coffee giant.
“I am writing you in the hope that Workers United and Starbucks can find a way to resume bargaining at the earliest possible time,” Starbucks Chief Partner Officer Sara Kelly said in a letter addressed to Workers United President Lynne Fox.
Kelly suggested resuming negotiations with a designated set of representative stores in January 2024.
“We are open to hearing other ideas and rules of engagement on how bargaining could proceed,” the letter said, adding that the current impasse has not helped either the company or the union.
Fox said in a statement to Reuters, “We have never said no to meeting with Starbucks. Anything that moves bargaining forward in a positive way is most welcome.”
Starbucks possesses nearly 10,000 company-owned locations in the U.S., and the company reports that fewer than 3% of these stores are unionized.
In November, Starbucks announced a minimum 3% increase in hourly pay for its U.S. retail workers from 2024. Concurrently, in that same month, employees at numerous stores staged a walkout during the prominent Red Cup Day promotional event.
Last month, the Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, announced the nomination of three candidates for board seats at Starbucks.
