Starbucks agrees to start labor talks with Workers United union

We break down complex business news to help you understand how money moves in Chicago and how it affects you.

Starbucks agreed Tuesday to start talks with the labor union organizing workers at hundreds of its U.S. stores, including several in Chicago, in a major step for the coffee chain giant and its employees.

Workers United and Starbucks announced they will begin discussions on a “fair process for workers to organize” as well as a “foundational framework” for collective bargaining for represented stores and employees, according to a joint statement.

The breakthrough emerged during mediation last week to resolve lawsuits about employee benefits and the use of Starbucks’ brand in social media protests.

Starbucks called the agreement to start talks with Workers United an “important milestone.”

Sara Kelly, chief partner officer at Starbucks, said in a statement: “Since Laxman [Narasimhan] became CEO, he’s spent time in our stores, listening to, and learning from, partners. He’s been clear that we are deeply committed to delivering on our partner promise and to restitching the fabric of the green apron for all partners at Starbucks.”

The news comes one week after Starbucks employees at 21 U.S. stores filed petitions with the National Labor Relations Board to join in a union with Starbucks Workers United, part of the Service Employees International Union. That latest wave included two Chicago stores — at Madison Street and Wells Street and at 58th Street and Western Avenue.

It was the largest single-day filing since Starbucks workers began organizing in December 2021 in Buffalo, New York. Since then, nearly 400 Starbucks stores and about 10,000 employees in 42 states and Washington D.C. have formed a union, according to the pro-labor group More Perfect Union. Starbucks has about 9,000 company-owned locations in the U.S.

In the union’s open letter last week to Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan, employees — who the company calls “partners” — demanded higher wages, fair scheduling, improved benefits and safe workplaces.

“We have worked through violent threats from customers, unsafe weather conditions, and a global pandemic,” they wrote. “Despite our willingness to work regardless of this disregard for our health and safety, we have been met with higher and higher expectations without being given the resources to meet them.”

Last week, a person allegedly stabbed another at a Starbucks in the the Loop. One man, 46, pulled out a knife and stabbed the other man, 52, multiple times in the head and arm, according to Chicago police.

In Chicago, eight Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, according to More Perfect Union. But four have rejected the move, including the world’s largest branch, Chicago Reserve Roastery, 646 N. Michigan Ave. Workers voted against unionizing in August, in a major setback for organizers.

Starbucks on Tuesday also agreed to provide employees represented by Workers United with May 2022 benefits, including credit card tipping.

Last November, Starbucks announced it would increase pay and benefits for most of its U.S. hourly workers after ending its fiscal year with record sales. But unionized workers were not eligible for some of those perks.

Workers United said excluding unionized stores was against the law and that it would file an unfair labor practice complaint with the NLRB.

Workers United last week demanded that Starbucks end its “illegal union-busting campaign.” The union said federal judges have found that Starbucks “committed more than 400 violations of federal labor law, including dozens of unlawful firings, refusal to bargain, and denying benefits and wage increases to union members that are offered at non-union stores.”