A bargaining breakdown and strikes: the ongoing union fight at Starbucks

Negotiations between Starbucks and its union have broken down with workers calling the company’s proposals “almost laughable” and highlighting the multi-million pay package of the coffee chain’s recently appointed CEO.

Since late 2021, over 530 Starbucks stores have won union elections, representing more than 12,000 workers at the company. But talks aimed at negotiating a first union contract have stalled and the company has called the union’s proposals “not sustainable”.

Workers said the pay of Starbucks’ new CEO, Brian Niccol, who left Chipotle in August 2024 to assume the role of CEO at Starbucks, is at the center of the breakdown in contract negotiations between Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United.