Starbucks workers rallied at two Los Angeles area coffee shops over the weekend in an effort to pressure the company to restart contract talks that have been stalled for much of this year.
The actions held Saturday morning — at Starbucks shops near the Miracle Mile on Wilshire Boulevard and in Santa Clarita — are among dozens of protests the workers’ union, Starbucks Workers United, plans to stage in the coming days across shops in some 35 cities, including Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio.
“We are trying to let Starbucks know that our voices should be heard and should be valued,” said Hailie Muro, a 22-year-old shift supervisor at the Miracle Mile location.
The worker protests come in the wake of an announcement this week that Starbucks is planning to close hundreds of stores and lay off close to 1,000 employees as part of a turnaround effort.
And it comes after employees brought legal action earlier this month against the coffee chain for changing the employee dress code — requiring a solid black shirt and khaki, black or blue denim bottoms — but allegedly refusing to reimburse workers who had to buy new clothes.
Workers, backed by the union, filed lawsuits over the dress code in Illinois and Colorado, and lodged complaints with California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency.
Contract talks with the company broke down in December. In February, federal mediators were brought in to resolve the dispute, but little progress was made. In April, the union voted to reject the coffee chain’s latest proposal that guaranteed that annual raises would not fall below 2%.
Since then, the union has regularly asked the company to return to the bargaining table, but has been met with silence for months, said Michelle Eisen, a spokesperson for the union and former Starbucks employee who worked at the company as recently as May.
Eisen said new policies such as the updated uniform as well as requirements for handwritten messages on coffee cups that create bigger workloads have been implemented without the company properly bargaining with the union — and that workers are gearing up for a strike if necessary.
“This is a warning shot. Workers aren’t going to settle for nothing,” Eisen said. “What you’re seeing this week is just the beginning of what workers are prepared to engage in to finalize the contract. It should be taken very seriously by the company.”
Starbucks contends that the union is to blame for stalled contract talks by walking away from negotiations last winter. The company argues that union demands are untenable, with the company already offering competitive pay and benefits.
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in an email Saturday that the company offers 18 weeks of parental leave and “industry-leading benefits that add up to about $30 an hour.”
Anderson these perks are helping the company “keep turnover at record lows and making Starbucks a place more partners recommend as a great place to work.”
The Starbucks union lambasted this week’s announcement of store closures, arguing that it’s the latest instance of the company’s chief executive Brian Niccol making major decisions “with zero barista input.”
The union said it’s still gathering information on how many union stores will be affected by the planned closures.
Niccol did not specify how many stores would close, but said the company will end its fiscal year with nearly 18,300 stores across the U.S. and Canada. As of June 29, the company had 18,734 stores.
Starbucks Workers United represents 12,000 workers at some 650 coffee shops. Their membership represents about 5% of Starbucks U.S. workforce, according to the company.
Times staff writer Caroline Petrow-Cohen contributed to this report.
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