Starbucks workers have been fighting with the company for years, first to be allowed to unionize and now to get their first contract. However, Starbucks has been pulling every dirty trick in the book and has refused to bargain in good faith. They are currently leaning heavily on AI technology and continue to put increasingly punitive policies in place to make things more difficult for its baristas. The company has already received hundreds of rulings against it from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its judges. There are over 550 cases still pending.
Starbucks Workers United has been on strike for several months, but has now bumped it up to calling for a national boycott of the coffee chain. The union has released a statement which reads in part, "We, the 12,000 and growing members of Starbucks Workers United, call on everyone who stands with working people to boycott Starbucks until they finalize a contract with union baristas and stop union-busting."
The union is looking for $17.00 per hour wages and enough hours to be able to live on, better staffing, and basic workplace protections.
Naturally, the company is denying everything and claims that they are offering a competitive wage and are working on productive bargaining. If that were true, the NLRB wouldn't have ruled against them hundreds of times.
But until Starbucks reaches a contract agreement with the union, please honor the picket line and don't go to Starbucks.
