A Starbucks employee wears a T-shirt and button that reads “unionization” on April 7, 2022 in Chicago.
John J. Kim | Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol said the coffee chain is committed to negotiating in good faith with the union representing many of the baristas as the two sides work on a labor agreement.
“I have great respect for the right of partners to choose, through a fair and democratic process, to be represented by a union,” Niccol wrote in a letter to the union obtained by CNBC on Tuesday. “If our partners choose to be represented, I will ensure that we work constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents.”
He was responding to a letter from the Starbucks Workers United bargaining delegation sent a day earlier, ahead of another bargaining session between Starbucks and the union. The two sides are negotiating a framework that would form the basis for collective bargaining agreements between individual stores and the company. The union is pushing for fair scheduling, a living wage, and racial and gender equity, the delegation said in its letter.
“We know that many of your dedicated customers – and future generations of customers – have a personal stake in the outcome of our negotiations and reaching a fundamental agreement,” the group wrote in its letter to Niccol.
Three years ago, Starbucks baristas began organizing under Workers United, a subsidiary of the Service Employees International Union. For two and a half years, the coffee giant tried to clamp down on unionization efforts, leading to battles that played out in headlines, on social media and in court.
But the turning point for both sides came six months ago, when they decided to work together on a path forward after mediation to resolve the lawsuits sparked by the union's social media posts.
Niccol joined Starbucks a few weeks ago, making him a newcomer to the union debate. In his previous role as CEO of Chipotle Mexican GrillOnly one location, in Lansing, Michigan, has been successfully syndicated. Last year, the burrito chain agreed to pay former employees of an Augusta, Maine, location $240,000 as part of a settlement for closing the restaurant when workers tried to unionize. Chipotle denied any wrongdoing.
Today, Workers United represents more than 490 U.S. Starbucks cafes and more than 10,500 of its employees. The company has more than 16,700 locations in the U.S., more than half of which are company-owned.