Starbucks sent a letter to the president of the union that represents more than 300 of its stores on Friday, saying it is hoping to find a path forward to resuming contract negotiations in January.
Workers United represents about 9,000 workers at more than 370 Starbucks stores in the United States who have been lobbying the global coffee chain to increase wages and improve staffing levels.
“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 the letter to Workers United president Lynne Fox that is posted on the Starbucks website.
Kelly said the two sides have been at an impasse for months about how to conduct collective bargaining, whereby an employer and employees negotiate agreements about salaries, working conditions and benefits. She said Starbucks is committed to the collective bargaining process and hopes to reach “agreements in reasonable time frames.”
She specifically stated Starbucks seeks to complete bargaining and ratify contracts in 2024.
In early November, Starbucks committed to raising hourly wages for its retail workers by at least 3% next year, yet less than two weeks later, during the company’s annual Red Cup Day promotion, workers at Starbucks stores across the country walked off the job.
“Starbucks is the leader in the coffee industry, and one of the most successful companies in the world,” Starbucks Workers United posted on its website, clarifying that it is not anti-Starbucks but organizing for a better company. “We want to share in that success, and we want to have a voice in determining what that looks like for us."
Starbucks operates about 10,000 locations in the U.S., 3% of which have union representation.