A yr beneath CEO Niccol: Starbucks employees’ lengthy struggle for a union contract | US unions

[ad_1] It’s been a yr since Brian Niccol took the highest job at Starbucks and promised change after years of bitter combating with the corporate’s burgeoning union.

“I deeply respect the correct of companions to decide on, by a good and democratic course of, to be represented by a union,” Niccol wrote in a letter to the union final September. “If our companions select to be represented, I'm dedicated to creating certain we have interaction constructively and in good religion with the union and the companions it represents.”

However 12 months on, the union and Niccol are nonetheless at loggerheads, in line with employees, and essentially the most profitable company union drive in latest historical past has been stymied.

Greater than 12,000 employees at practically 650 Starbucks shops across the US have unionized since December 2021, the fastest-growing union marketing campaign in trendy historical past. The expansion has come regardless of a whole bunch of allegations of union-busting, retaliation and unfair labor practices lodged towards Starbucks by the union.

Starbucks Staff United had made progress towards securing a primary union contract with the corporate since bargaining classes started in early 2024. However that progress has largely stalled since Niccol took over the corporate.

His first yr on the job started with implementing a brand new technique for the corporate, which he dubbed “Again to Starbucks”, which outlined an emphasis on customer support, reducing wait occasions for orders and bettering in-store experiences.

Niccol has praised the technique, and the corporate had a report gross sales week on the discharge of its Fall menu this yr after six consecutive quarters of same-store gross sales declines.

However employees organizing at Starbucks have criticized the technique, citing elevated calls for on employees, comparable to having to jot down customized messages on buyer drink orders, with out enhancements to staffing or pay.

Brian Niccol speaks on the firm’s management convention in Las Vegas on 10 June 2025. {Photograph}: Joshua Trujillo/Starbucks by way of Reuters A survey performed by Starbucks Staff United and the Strategic Organizing Middle of 737 Starbucks employees discovered 91% reported understaffing at their shops previously three months, and 93% mentioned the coverage modifications beneath Niccol both had no affect or worsened the client expertise.

“It’s clear that ‘Again to Starbucks’ isn’t working and gained’t succeed till we finalize a good union contract with the hours, take-home pay and protections baristas have to do our jobs,” mentioned Michelle Eisen, a spokesperson for Starbucks Staff United and a barista for 15 years.

“Brian has talked about like simplifying the menu to make issues simpler for companions, and eager to get clients out and in of the shops sooner, however these modifications that he’s rolled out haven’t completed any of these issues,” mentioned Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista since December 2021 at a Starbucks retailer in Cheektowaga, New York, the second retailer to unionize within the US. “We actually want him to get again to the desk to finalize this contract in order that we are able to begin to flip issues round.”

Leli warned Starbucks can count on additional actions from unionized employees to power the corporate to get again to the bargaining desk. The union has continuously utilized strikes and protests to deal with particular points at shops.

“We're going to do no matter it takes to get them again to the desk in order that we are able to begin to handle the problems with the wages, scheduling and staffing,” Leli added. “We're those which might be working within the shops and interacting with the purchasers day in and time out, and companions need to be part of making change within the office. In order that’s why shops are becoming a member of the struggle.”

graphic 1 Niccol’s exorbitant compensation has been a degree of criticism for employees and labor advocates; Niccol obtained $97.8m in whole compensation in 2024, 6,666 occasions greater than the median annual wage of a Starbucks employee at $14,674, the largest CEO-to-worker pay hole among the many high 500 firms within the US. Starbucks claimed its common compensation, together with advantages for employees who work at the very least 20 hours every week, is $30 an hour.

“When you’re the Starbucks CEO you get $96m for 4 months of labor together with a $5m bonus,” Senator Bernie Sanders wrote on social media in March. “When you’re a Starbucks union employee, the CEO is refusing to offer you an honest increase to pay lease and purchase groceries. Starbucks should finish its greed & negotiate a good union contract.”

A spokesperson for Starbucks mentioned in response to criticism of Niccol’s compensation: “Starbucks believes Brian has established himself as one of the efficient leaders in our trade, with a confirmed monitor report of delivering long-term worth to staff, clients and shareholders. Nearly all of his reported first-year compensation displays multi-year substitute fairness grants, awarded to offset compensation forfeited upon his departure from Chipotle, which at the moment are straight tied to Starbucks future efficiency.”

The corporate additionally paid $3.8bn to shareholders in fiscal yr 2024 by inventory buybacks and dividends.

Starbucks Staff United have criticized Niccol’s pay, his personal jet use and the $81m spent by Starbucks on a June conference in Las Vegas for 14,000 retailer managers and different leaders.

“It will take lower than what Brian made in 4 months to settle truthful contracts with our union,” said the union in a latest video posted on Instagram.

graphic 2 In December 2024, 1000's of baristas at Starbucks shops across the US went on strike, the biggest strike within the firm’s historical past, after the union claimed Starbucks backtracked on an settlement to finalize a deal.

In April 2025, the union rejected a proposal from Starbucks for two% pay will increase, with 81% of unionized shops voting it down because of its failure to adequately handle different financial advantages and supply an instantaneous pay hike. A brand new proposal has but to materialize.

Within the midst of stalled negotiations, Starbucks Staff United has continued rising to 648 unionized shops, from 500 shops in September 2024.

Diego Franco, a barista at Starbucks for 5 years at a unionized retailer in Chicago, Illinois, criticized the customized word change when he says his retailer is commonly understaffed, leading to lengthy waits for orders.

“If I’m a buyer, I don’t care to learn a personalised word on my cup once I’m already ready 20 minutes for my drink, and as a employee, I’m getting chastised for not having a Sharpie always,” Franco mentioned. “It’s been an enormous mishandling of a lot cash, however the firm continues to lose, considering that Brian or any of our earlier CEOs have had the solutions.”

“I imagine if the corporate actually wished to repair the issues occurring of their shops, it might have occurred by now,” he added. “The place the corporate would possibly see a backside line, I see human experiences, human lives which might be affected by the work that we do. So I hope to protect that and to make it higher, not only for me and my co-workers, however for individuals who come within the shops.”

A spokesperson for Starbucks mentioned: “Since final April 2024, Starbucks and Staff United have held greater than 9 bargaining classes over 20 days and three mediation classes over 5 days with a federal mediator. We’ve reached over thirty significant agreements on a whole bunch of matters Staff United delegates informed us had been essential to them. We're able to finalize an inexpensive contract for represented companions, however we want the union to return to the bargaining desk to complete the job.”