Starbucks union votes to authorize strike ahead of bargaining

Starbucks Workers United said it had voted to authorize a strike ahead of the year’s last scheduled bargaining session.

In a post on X, the union said 98 percent of its baristas voted to authorize a strike if necessary.

“Our union is STRONG – and we’re READY,” the union said.

The union noted in its statement that its partners have not decided when to go on strike, but the vote was finalized just as delegates returned to the table Tuesday for the last session of the calendar year.

Starbucks and the union have spent hundreds of hours bargaining, and both sides have produced tentative agreements over the year. Still, the company has yet to bring a “comprehensive economic package to the bargaining table,” and other unfair labor practices remain unsolved, the union said.

“It’s time to finalize a foundational framework that includes meaningful investments in baristas and to resolve unfair labor practice charges,” Silvia Baldwin, a barista in Philadelphia and bargaining delegate, said in a statement.

“Starbucks needs to invest in the baristas who make Starbucks run,” she added.

The Hill has reached out to Starbucks for comment. However, in a statement to CNBC, Starbucks refuted the union’s account and said the company remains committed to reaching a final framework agreement.

“It is disappointing that the union is considering a strike rather than focusing on what have been extremely productive negotiations. Since April we’ve scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where we’ve reached thirty meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues,” the company said in the statement to CNBC.