After a grueling campaign, Starbucks Workers United and the company announced a major breakthrough this week that’s being hailed as “a very, very big deal.”

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/1987995

An excerpt from the article:

Gone are the days when former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz could argue that the company’s upstart barista network would be no more than a blip in the coffee behemoth’s history.

On Tuesday, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU)’s parent union and Starbucks announced that they had reached a “foundational framework” for substantive negotiations over a range of issues.

“The fight is worth fighting for. This victory alone proves that no workplace is out of reach for organizing,” fired former Starbucks barista Alicia Flores of Portland, Oregon told In These Times, speaking in a personal capacity.

The two sides hope the agreement will form the basis for contract talks at nearly 400 union shops, the resolution of ongoing litigation, and an agreement over rules governing future organizing at Starbucks locations. While the publicly announced details of the agreement include few specifics and even fewer guarantees, the barista network has won at least the potential for negotiations over a first master contract.

“This agreement…is a very, very big deal,” said Dave Kamper, Senior Strategist at the progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute. “Starbucks Workers United has shown that determined workers, willing to use all the tools of worker power at their disposal…can bring companies to the bargaining table.”

Starbucks also announced that, as a measure of good faith, it will provide credit card tipping and other benefits to union stores that it has provided to nonunion stores since May 2022.

Some SBWU members were reluctant to speak to In These Times about the framework. But those who did open up were enthusiastic.

“I’m excited for the gang at SBWU to bargain a fair contract and to hopefully get reinstated as a fired worker,” said Flores.

Similarly, barista James Greene of the Pittsburgh area, also speaking in a personal capacity, said that he is “encouraged by the company’s [message]” and hopes “we can negotiate in good faith soon.”

A milestone battle and victory for Starbucks Workers United!

Read the rest of the article through the link up top (which also talks about labor and the anti-Zionist movement in the USA).