Starbucks responds to union demands following strike threat

Starbucks is responding to some of its own Unionized workers Baristas took to the picket lines Friday after Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) baristas voted to approve a strike earlier this week.

According to Coffee chainThe union is seeking an “unsustainable” wage increase.

tape	protection	last	It changes	% changes
Sex	Starbucks Corporation	101.51	-0.95	-0.93%

“The labor union’s proposals call for an immediate increase in associates’ minimum hourly wages by 64% and by 77% over the life of the three-year contract,” Starbucks said in a statement. “This is not sustainable.”

According to Starbucks, the average wage its workers currently earn is more than $18 per hour, and when taken with benefits, the average wage equals more than $30 per hour.

An Amazon spokesperson says there is no strike: a “protest” manufactured by the teams

The company added: “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements.” “We need the union back to the table.”

SBWU members They voted to approve the strike on Tuesday in the lead-up to a meeting between the union and the company for further negotiations.

Unionized Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago launched their picket lines on Friday, and the strike will escalate, spreading to more stores across the country through Christmas Eve.

Thousands of Starbucks workers in more than 525 stores belong to the SBWU.

“There has not been any significant impact on our store operations,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in a statement on Friday. “We are aware of the disruption in a small number of stores, but the vast majority of our stores in the United States remain open and serving customers as usual.” ”

Starbucks CEO Says Better Price Transparency Is Essential for Mobile Apps

The union and Starbucks began working on a “constitutive framework” in April, and the two sides last met in September. This meeting happened not long after Brian Nicol He became CEO of a coffee shop chain.

Nicol announced Monday that the company will double the paid parental leave it offers to U.S. store employees who work at least 20 hours a week. The expanded benefit, which will include up to 18 weeks for birth parents and up to 12 weeks for non-birth parents, will take effect in the spring.

Get FOX Business on the go by clicking here

The company’s total workforce was about 361,000 at the end of September, including 211,000 in the U.S. in Starbucks-operated stores, corporate support and other areas.

FOX Business’ Aislinn Murphy and Reuters contributed to this report.