Starbucks strike expands to 12 cities

Starbucks baristas walked off the job in major cities in Massachusetts, Texas and Oregon on Monday, expanding the dayslong holiday strike to 12 cities nationwide, according to the union Starbucks Workers United.

Workers went out on strike in Boston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, and Portland, Oregon, joining baristas in cities spanning from Los Angeles to Philadelphia.

Striking baristas brought business to a halt in almost 50 stores nationwide on Sunday across multiple cities, Workers United said.

“The holiday period should be magical at Starbucks, but for too many of us, there’s a darker side to the peppermint mochas and gingerbread lattes,”Arloa Fluhr, a longtime Starbucks employee in Illinois, said in a statement to ABC information.

Fluhr, a mother of three, struggles to back her household with the wages received from Starbucks, she said. “That’s why we’re steadfast in our demands for Starbucks to invest in baristas like me,” she added.

Workers United, a union representing 525 Starbucks stores in the U.S., said baristas nationwide launched a strike on Friday. The escalation on Monday is the latest expansion of a strike that has grown each day since it began, the union said.

The holiday period is one of the busiest periods of the year for the coffeehouse giant, the union added.

In February, Starbucks Workers United and Starbucks announced they would work on a “foundational framework” to reach a collective bargaining agreement for stores, something the union says has not arrive to fruition.

“We were ready to bring the foundational framework home this year, but Starbucks wasn’t,” Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, told ABC information in a statement. “Union baristas recognize their worth, and they’re not going to receive a proposal that doesn’t treat them as factual partners.”

Starbucks did not immediately respond to ABC information’ request for comment.

In response to ABC information’ previous request for comment, Starbucks spokesperson Phil Gee said the business has not experienced a significant impact from the strike.

“We are aware of disruption at a tiny handful of stores, but the overwhelming majority of our U.S. stores remain open and serving customers as normal,” Gee said on Dec. 20.

Starbucks said it remains willing to resume negotiations with the union. “Workers United delegates prematurely ended our bargaining session this week. It is disappointing they didn’t profit to the table given the advancement we’ve made to date,” the business said. “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements.”

The union and the business remain far apart on the key issue of potential wage increases, according to statements from both sides about the other’s proposal.

Workers United told ABC information in a statement that Starbucks had proposed no immediate wage increases for most baristas and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in upcoming years.

Meanwhile, Starbucks said in a statement that the union had proposed an immediate boost in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, as well as an overall 77% raise over the duration of a three-year deal. “This is not sustainable,” a Starbucks spokesperson told ABC information.

Starbucks United contests those figures as a disingenuous characterization of its proposal, the union told ABC information.

Some local elected officials joined workers on the picket lines on Sunday, including Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and Democratic recent York City Comptroller Brad Lander, the union said.

Baristas have unionized more than 100 Starbucks stores this year, expanding a union campaign that has spread to hundreds of stores across 45 states since an initial win three years ago at a location in Buffalo, recent York, the union said.

The union has filed hundreds of charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging illegal anti-union activities carried out by Starbucks, including alleged impoverished-belief negotiations over a potential union deal setting terms at the unionized locations.

Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and faulted the union for breaking off negotiations. The business offers better pay and benefits than its competitors, Starbucks said.

“We are concentrated on enhancing the associate (employee) encounter, with over $3 billion invested in the last three years. Starbucks offers a competitive average pay of over $18 per hour, and best-in-class benefits,” Starbucks said in a statement to ABC information. “No other retailer offers this benevolent of comprehensive pay and benefits package.”

ABC information’ Leah Sarnoff contributed to this update.