Workers at five Starbucks coffee shops in Philadelphia have joined a movement of workers at Starbucks locations all across the country in hitting the picket lines until Christmas in an effort to secure better pay.
On Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, as workers took to the picket line outside of a Starbucks store at 16th and Walnut streets, Noah Dixon, a striking barista, told NBC10's Neil Fischer that the strikes could be solved for a fraction of what the company is paying its newest CEO Brian Niccol.
“Starbucks made the claims that they were going to come to the bargaining table with us and for three months they’ve put no real economic proposals on the table," said Dixon. “In the meantime, they’ve hired a CEO, who is paid the equivalent of 10,000 baristas. Even though they seem to think it’s impossible to pay us more. For context, our union is only 11,000 people, so if they cut this one guy’s salary, the could pay us all double, but they are only willing to offer us 1.5 percent.”
Last week, workers at Starbucks stores in Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago announced plans to go on strike until Christmas.
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The Starbucks Workers United union has said that, since then, workers in New Jersey, New York, Denver, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Philadelphia, and St. Louis have all joined in the strike.
The union said, in a statement on the strikes, that workers "shut down dozens of stores Saturday, and their walkouts are expected to keep growing through the final days of holiday shopping before Christmas, traditionally one of Starbucks’ busiest customer traffic times of the year."
“Nobody wants to strike. It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” said Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a 5-year Starbucks barista from Texas, in a statement released by the union. “In a year when Starbucks invested so many millions in top executive talent, it has failed to present the baristas who make its company run with a viable economic proposal and resolve the pending unfair labor practices. This is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to get the company to honor the commitment it made to us in February.”
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Dixon said that he believes the strike at his Center City store will last until Christmas Day.
Yet, in a statement to NBC News, a Starbucks spokesperson said Workers United delegates “prematurely ended our bargaining session this week.”
In that statement, Starbucks argued that it offers a “competitive average pay of over $18 per hour," and said that the increases sought by the union -- an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year year contract -- is "not sustainable."
The company said that it is ready to continue negotiations, in that statement, as well.
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