Hundreds of Starbucks Corp. employees have walked off the job since Sunday to protest the company’s new dress code, according to the union representing baristas, with more strikes likely in the coming days.
The walkouts have occurred at more than 50 U.S. stores, Starbucks Workers United said. The union represents baristas at about 570 of the chain’s more than 10,000 company-operated locations in the US. Starbucks said that there’s been no significant impact to store operations on a national level and most stores are open and serving customers as usual.
The coffee chain on Monday implemented a new dress code that requires baristas to wear solid black tops, a change from prior practice that allowed any color. There are also new rules on the bottoms baristas can wear, among other changes.
Workers United filed a complaint with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board alleging that Starbucks’ dress-code changes during contract talks violate the law and show the company wasn’t negotiating fairly.
The dress code also “materially differed” from a tentative agreement the two parties had reached during negotiations, according to a copy of the complaint. Starbucks said it would continue to bargain and ensure that differences between what’s agreed to in negotiations and what’s implemented in stores are addressed “lawfully and fairly.”
Baristas argue that the dress code won’t improve operations or make their jobs easier, union delegate Michelle Eisen said in a statement from Workers United. Starbucks is trying to reverse five straight quarters of same-store sales declines.
“This policy change puts the burden on baristas, many of whom are already struggling to get by, to buy new clothes or risk being disciplined,” Eisen said. The company has said it would provide two Starbucks-branded shirts free of charge but couldn’t guarantee they would arrive by May 12, when the new dress code went into effect.
In a statement, Starbucks said that “thousands” of workers showed up to work ready to serve customers, adding that the biggest update to dress code is “simple: wear a black shirt — either your own or one we provide.”
“While Workers United, which represents less than 5% of our workforce, attempted to create disruption in a handful of stores, we’re focused on providing the best job in retail with a wage and benefits package that averages more than $30 per hour for hourly partners,” Starbucks said in a statement. It called on the union to return to negotiations in order “to finalize a reasonable contract.”
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About 500 baristas representing Starbucks’ unionized U.S. stores voted in late April to reject the company’s latest contract proposal over the issue of pay. Starbucks said at the time that the union presented delegates with “an incomplete framework” to vote on, “effectively undermining our collective progress.”
The two sides have been meeting over the past year to try to come up with a template for collective bargaining agreements at the locations that Workers United has organized since 2021.
