SEATTLE — This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
Baristas, elected officials, and community supporters are planning to rally at Seattle’s Starbucks Reserve Roastery on Monday at 12 p.m., demanding a fair contract.
Workers have cited understaffing, low pay, and retaliation for union organizing. The protest follows multiple unfair labor practice charges filed against the company.
“We need a contract more than ever. Starbucks says it can’t afford to pay us more, but they gave the CEO a new office and a private jet? Meanwhile, we are dealing with understaffing and being overworked,” Trent Lytle-Hogue, a Seattle barista of two years, said in an announcement of the rally. “Wait times are long, customers are angry, but the management is only concerned with enforcing the new dress code. Our union is strong and we are ready to do what it takes to win our contract!”
Specifically, Starbucks Workers United, the union representing Starbucks workers at unionized locations, cited an instance where three union organizers at the Seattle Roastery and SODO Reserve Starbucks were fired in August.
Additionally, the company refused to relocate baristas from the Georgetown location during a temporary remodel to neighboring stores, a practice the company used to commit to regularly when a store was temporarily closed. According to the union, Starbucks told these workers they are “welcome to seek public assistance” to make up for two weeks of lost income.
MyNorthwest and KIRO Newsradio have reached out to Starbucks for comment.
“Settling a union contract would cost Starbucks less than one average day’s sales, but instead of negotiating in good faith, the company is stonewalling baristas,” Starbucks Workers United stated. “At the same time, Starbucks paid CEO Brian Niccol $96 million compensation for just four months of work in 2024, which is the biggest CEO-to-worker pay gap in the country.”
Seattle Starbucks Roastery is located on Pike Street in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
This is a developing story, check back for updates
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