The Starbucks strike extends to more than 300 stores on Christmas Eve: “We don't earn enough to live”

The Starbucks strike that began last Friday will extend this Tuesday to more than 300 stores in the United States, and more than 5,000 employees are expected not to show up for work, the Starbucks Workers United union reported this morning. , in English). The five-day strike, which employees have called “the strike before Christmas,” will end this Christmas Eve. “Starbucks baristas at more than THREE HUNDRED stores have walked off the job to demand Starbucks negotiate a fair contract from coast to coast,” the union posted on Instagram. According to the group, it is “the largest strike over unfair labor practices” in the history of the coffee chain. The strike was called by Starbucks United Workers, a movement that brings together some 10,000 workers in more than 500 stores in the company. chain at a national level and that promotes its unionization, still incipient. It started Friday in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, where Starbucks first opened its doors more than 50 years ago, and has been expanding every day since. The list of participating branches now includes at least nine States: workers from Boston (Massachusetts), Buffalo (New York), Cleveland (Ohio), Dallas (Texas), Denver (Colorado), Minneapolis (Minnesota) have joined ), Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Portland (Orejón) and San José (California).More informationFor its part, Starbucks admitted in a statement on Monday that around 60 stores nationwide were closed due to the strike, during one of the busiest times of the year for the chain. However, the company stressed that the “vast majority” of its more than 10,000 stores had not been affected by the strike and that they expect “a very limited impact” on their overall operations. Evelyn Reyes, 25, is one of the baristas who joined the strike this Monday. The young woman has been working for the coffee chain in Los Angeles for five years and has never had enough money to pay rent on her own. Not even last year, when she was given the supervisor position. And that is the case for most of the chain's workers in Los Angeles and Southern California, he says. “In Los Angeles, everyone has a roommate. «Almost no one is able to pay rent on their own,» he says. Starbucks workers, who were not unionized, began to organize to demand improvements in wages and working conditions in 2021. In February of this year, the company had agreed negotiate contracts for the end of 2024, but this has not happened, which sparked the current protest.Starbuck workers picket in front of a branch last week in California. Damian Dovarganes (AP) “We have concerns that are not being heard. At this moment the company does not want to negotiate with us and it is very frustrating,” Reyes complains in English. “It's very frustrating to be constantly worried: Will I have enough money for rent? For food? To pay the phone and gas bill?” She, like many other young Latino workers at the chain in Los Angeles, still lives with her parents and fears that, to become independent, she will have to leave the city. “I grew up in Los Angeles, born and raised here, and I worry that I won't be able to continue living in the city that is my home.” The salary of Starbucks workers varies by location. But the average wage without benefits in Southern California is $18 an hour, Reyes says. This is two dollars above the state's minimum wage ($16 per hour, effective January 1, 2024) and three dollars below the state's fast food industry minimum wage ($20, effective January 1, 2024). from April 1, 2024). The assignment of shifts is also not guaranteed and many work with the uncertainty of not knowing how many hours they will be able to earn at the end of the month. The protests on the eve of the Christmas and New Year holidays seek to persuade the company to present a better offer. “We are all in financial trouble here,” says Reyes. “Right now I just hope that (the network) is at least willing to negotiate with us and give us something (a salary) that we can live off of. Because many of us employees don't make enough to live on and that's very frustrating.” Reyes and the Starbucks United Workers are also demanding that the chain respond to specific claims of unfair labor practices that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board ( NLRB, the federal agency that enforces labor laws in collective bargaining and other matters. Just before the strike began on December 19, Starbucks issued a statement saying that union members at Workers United “They prematurely left the negotiating session this week,” even though they had already reached “more than 30 significant agreements on hundreds of topics” in dozens of meetings they have had since April. In the company's opinion, the pay they offer is fair when taking into account the benefits: “Starbucks offers a competitive average salary of more than $18 per hour, and first-class benefits. Together, these equate to an average of $30 per hour for baristas working at least 20 hours per week. Benefits include healthcare, free college tuition, paid family leave, and company stock awards. No other retailer offers this type of comprehensive salary and benefits package.” The Starbucks workers' strike has coincided with one organized against Amazon by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, better known as the Teamsters. The strike against the e-commerce giant – the largest to date – began last Thursday in a dozen facilities in four states (California, New York, Illinois and Georgia) and has since also spread, according to the union. which claims to represent about 10,000 workers at ten Amazon facilities.