Across the U.S., unionized Starbucks workers are expected to strike starting tomorrow during Red Cup Day, a significant annual promotional event. Only 4% of Starbucks employees are unionized nationally, according to the company, but a total of seven Eugene stores may join the picket lines — including the Erb Memorial Union location on the University of Oregon Campus.
The full list of Eugene’s unionized stores include:
- Erb Memorial Union
- Franklin Boulevard and Villard Street
- North Delta Road
- 29th Avenue and Willamette Street
- West Seventh Avenue and Washington Street
- West 11th Avenue and Acorn Park Street
- Valley River Center
The strike authorization vote was passed last week with 92 percent approval from Starbucks baristas, according to Starbucks Workers United.
Starbucks workers have unionized hundreds of stores since 2021, but the road to a contract has been long and unsteady. Over the past few years, Starbucks has gone through three different CEOs who have each struggled to uphold Starbucks’ image in the face of hundreds of what the National Labor Relations Board has deemed unfair labor practices.
Currently, Brian Niccol serves as CEO. Niccol has been reshaping Starbucks by closing some drive-through pick-up store locations, including 59 unionized stores, to promote a “warm and welcoming” brand.
Starbucks said that in bargaining SBWU proposed 65 percent immediate pay raises and 77 percent raises over time.
A letter from the company said that these proposals are not “serious (or) evidence based.”
Collective bargaining agreements are often not made publicly available until after contract ratification so the exact numbers remain blurry.
A UO student who asked to not be named out of fear of retaliation has a shift at the EMU Starbucks tomorrow and is unsure if she is going to walk out or not.
“I really don’t know if I’ll go on strike because I’m a college student so I rely on the income from that job and I don’t have much information about it,” the student said.
She plans on using the money she earns at Starbucks for rent and law school and with expenses mounting, her budget does not have much wiggle room.
SBWU has a strike fund through their affiliate organization, the Service Employees International Union, but it is unclear from its website how much is in the fund and if or how it will be distributed.
The student said she has worked for a number of retail stores including Target and Dutch Bros Coffee but she said Starbucks is “definitely the worst company” she has worked for. She said this mostly comes from what she called a “disconnect” between workers and management on staffing issues and other policies.
“The people making the rules don’t know what it’s like to work here,” she said. “They should know how to be a barista and do our jobs because corporate is so much different and you really need that experience of a worker and talking to workers so you are not putting in random policies.”
Some of these “random policies” regard the use of an AI system for scheduling and inventory that Emerson called “frustrating.” She said there had been several instances this fall where the AI system had scheduled either far too many or too few employees on a shift causing significant confusion.
In an early afternoon rush between classes, around 40 customers crowded in front of the EMU Starbucks to wait for their coffee while a fleet of baristas raced to fill orders.
Most Starbucks customers waiting in line to pick up their orders had no clue a strike was planned for tomorrow.
“Honestly if it (the strike) is what they think is the right thing I am all for it,” Isabella Amano, a UO student, said. “Buying drinks here is convenient but I’d rather go to a Dutch Bros or somewhere downtown.”
SBWU did not respond for comment in time for publication.
