A Year Later, Starbucks Still Can't Agree On Union Contract – CoffeeTalk

Starbucks has been negotiating a national contract with the union representing baristas, Starbucks Workers United, for over a year. However, negotiations have stalled, and baristas are growing frustrated. Both sides have different ideas about how to turn the company around. Ty Newbill, a barista with Starbucks for six months, has been a strong advocate for a fair contract, stating that their movement is inevitable for the company.

More than four years after the first Starbucks location in Buffalo, New York, voted to unionize, workers gathered outside Starbucks’ locations across the country to re-uphold their demands for a fair contract that provides competitive wages, staffing protections, and other demands. Newbill believes that the Starbucks location they work at in Bremerton is understaffed and workers are underpaid.

During the annual shareholder meeting, CEO Brian Niccol mostly avoided addressing the union, instead talking to investors about the company’s push to turn a corner, in a branding move described as “Back to Starbucks.” Starbucks has had a rocky start to the year, with sales declining 4% during the first financial quarter of 2025. Niccol believes that Starbucks can turn things around by focusing on “brand truths” that customers can depend on.

Going back to Starbucks will mean simplifying the menu, getting customers their espresso in four minutes or less, and giving Sharpies back to baristas so they can once-again inscribe handwritten messages on cups. However, not everyone is on board, and Newbill is skeptical of the changes Starbucks’ CEO says are necessary to redefine Starbucks’ café culture.

While most of the shareholder meeting focused on Starbucks’ efforts to rebuild their reputation as a community café, the unionization movement was still on the minds of investors. Shareholders considered a proposal to compile a report on the “human rights risks related to labor organizing,” and an anonymous shareholder submitted a question asking when Starbucks would negotiate its first union contract. Starbucks Executive Vice President Sara Kelly added that the company and Starbucks Workers United have been at the bargaining table for nine months with a mediator.

Newbill and Starbucks want shareholders and corporate leaders to understand that unionizing baristas wouldn’t take away from the company, but it would “build it up.” They believe that investing in workers will make them more willing to invest their time, and that Starbucks is building to where all other large fast-food corporations are: high turnover rates, unhappy employees, and general disorganization.

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