GLDSA stands in solidarity with Starbucks Workers United

Official Statement from GLDSA In Solidarity with Starbucks Workers United

Greater Lafayette DSA stands in solidarity with the ​baristas of Starbucks who are organizing to secure a fair contract from this multi-billion dollar company. 

After three years of organizing, collective action, and public pressure, Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United announced a constructive path forward in February 2024. This framework committed both parties to good-faith negotiations on a foundational contract, a fair process for organizing, and the resolution of ongoing legal disputes.

Starbucks has failed to honor their commitment. The following timeline illustrates the company's retreat from good-faith bargaining:

• February 2024: Starbucks and Workers United publicly agree to a framework for negotiations.

• April 2024: Parties convene their first bargaining session and mutually commit to finalizing contracts by the end of the year.

• May - August 2024: Monthly, multi-day in-person bargaining sessions are held.

• September 2024: Brian Niccol assumes the role of Starbucks CEO. Baristas present a comprehensive set of economic proposals for negotiation. 

• October - November 2024: Organizing victories continue, with the 500th store unionizing. Starbucks fails to present any economic counters to union proposals.

• December 2024: Starbucks breaks its promise, refusing to present serious proposals. Workers United files Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) charges for bad-faith bargaining. Over 5,000 baristas conduct the largest ULP strike in the company’s history.

• January 2025: Workers United files over 90 new federal ULP charges against Starbucks for union-busting.

• April 2025: One year after bargaining began, more than 500 union delegates voted to reject a substandard foundational framework package from Starbucks that offered no wage or benefit improvements in the first year and failed to address critical understaffing.

• June 2025: The movement grows as the 600th store unionizes, representing over 12,000 union baristas.

• Summer 2025: Starbucks continues to fail to return to the bargaining table and address the core issues facing the workers: better hours to address understaffing, improved take-home pay, and the protections they need to do their job.

Today, SBWU represents over 640 unionized locations. The workers' core demands remain just and clear: better hours to end chronic understaffing, higher take-home pay to meet the cost of living, and the resolution of hundreds of outstanding ULP charges.

This struggle represents a stark choice between corporate greed and workers’ rights. As CEO Brian Niccol earns 6,666 times the median barista’s pay, the company claims it cannot afford to provide its baristas with a living wage and dignified working conditions. We stand with the workers.

According to the Workers United website:

“Our union contract is close to the finish line…but Starbucks is stonewalling us, the very same baristas who make their profits possible. Our three remaining, unaddressed demands are:

1. Better hours to improve staffing.

2. Higher take-home pay, so we can pay our bills.

3. Resolving hundreds of unfair labor practice charges for union busting.
   
   

For less than what Starbucks paid CEO Brian Niccol last year, we can get this done. It’s time to finalize a fair contract and move forward!”

In the choice between workers trying to fight for a better deal and Starbucks’ corporate greed, WE STAND WITH THE WORKERS! 

Building worker power is essential to creating a more just world. It is by showing up for each other that we build this culture of solidarity and power! In this spirit, GLDSA pledges to take the following concrete actions in support of Starbucks Workers United:

• As negotiations continue we will educate our members, and the general public, on Starbucks' anti-union activities and refusal to bargain in good faith.

• In the event of a strike, GLDSA will:: 

  • Provide financial support to striking workers through our Labor Solidarity Fund.

  • Refuse to cross any and all picket lines

  • Mobilize community members to honor picket lines and boycott Starbucks

  • Support picket lines in any way possible

  • Provide material support, including food and supplies, to workers in need.

We call upon all people of conscience to stand with Starbucks workers in their fight for a fair contract. Their fight is our fight.

Solidarity Forever!

Greater Lafayette Democratic Socialists of America.