Will Starbucks baristas go on strike? Here’s what to know after the union’s authorization vote

Workers at major corporations increasingly seem to be cognizant of their collective bargaining power. Last week, thousands of Amazon workers authorized a strike action ahead of the holidays if Amazon did not come to the table for contract negotiations.

Now Starbucks union workers are following suit, having authorized a similar strike action. Here’s what you need to know about the possible Starbucks workers’ strike.

What’s happened?

On Tuesday, members of the Starbucks Workers United union voted to authorize a strike action. The union consists of 11,000 Starbucks workers at over 525 Starbucks locations across the country. The vote on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed—with 98% of union members voting to authorize a strike action, according to the union.

The union authorized the strike action after it failed to come to an agreement with Starbucks over pay raises, benefits, unresolved unfair labor practice charges (ULPs), and other issues. In February, the union and Starbucks agreed to come to the table to discuss the issues, but no resolution has been reached to date, thus the authorization of the strike action.

What does the union want?

Numerous things that would better the lives of its members. Those include resolving unfair labor practice matters, as well as improving benefits. Yet another major issue is the pay that baristas receive.

“Starbucks can’t get back on track as a company until it finalizes a fair contract that invests in its workforce. Right now, I’m making $16.50 an hour. Meanwhile, Brian Niccol’s compensation package is worth $57,000 an hour,” said Silvia Baldwin, a Starbucks barista and bargaining delegate, in a statement. “The company just announced I’m only getting a 2.5% raise next year, $0.40 an hour, which is hardly anything. It’s one Starbucks drink per week. Starbucks needs to invest in the baristas who make Starbucks run.”

While a pay raise of just 2.5% does not even keep pace with inflation (the annual inflation rate so far this year is 2.7%), Starbucks this month agreed to double parental leave for U.S. store staff. Of course, the increase in that benefit only helps those workers with newborns—it does nothing to help the thousands of Starbucks workers who struggle to pay their bills.

What does Starbucks say?

We’ve reached out to Starbucks for comment and additional information and will update this post if we hear back.

In a statement to CNBC, Starbucks didn’t address specific demands from the union, such as higher wages, but said it was disappointed with the vote approving strike action.

“It is disappointing that the union is considering a strike rather than focusing on what have been extremely productive negotiations,” the company said. “Since April we’ve scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where we’ve reached thirty meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues.”

Will a strike happen?

That is unknown for now. While Starbucks Workers United voted to authorize a strike action, the union has not officially called a strike. But now that one has been authorized by its members, the union could call a strike at any time.

When would the strike commence?

That, too, is unknown. If Starbucks Workers United wanted to put as much pressure on Starbucks as possible, the union would likely call a strike over the upcoming holiday period when many people are off from work and have more time to visit Starbucks locations.

The holiday period is a busy time for corporations and retail, which means any strikes can be more devastating to companies, making them potentially more eager to agree to a solution that would end any strike action.

Whether Starbucks Workers United decides to strike this holiday season remains to be seen.