Starbucks releases letter in attempt to resolve issues with workers union
The coffee company is asking for the two sides to resume negotiations in January.
Starbucks has been facing a crisis from its workers union across the country for the last few months — including a strike that hit several hundred branches during the company's Red Cup Day last month.
The coffee giant is now taking a massive step in an attempt to bargain with its union, as Sara Kelly, Starbucks' chief partner officer, released a letter on Dec. 8 expressing the company's desire to meet with Workers United by January 2024.
Kelly's letter, which was directed to Workers United International President Lynne Fox, said that the "impasse" that the two sides are in "should not be acceptable to either of us."
Related: Starbucks' Red Cup Day could be disrupted by the largest strike in the company's history
She then highlighted eight bullet points that Starbucks is going to commit to in the negotiating process, and asked for the union to do the same.
The bullets are as follows:
- We will treat each bargaining participant with dignity and respect.
- We will refrain from any disparaging, profane, threatening, discriminatory, or abusive language, gestures, or conduct.
- We will protect our workplace culture founded on inclusion, diversity, and equity.
- We will schedule sessions to ensure partners at each store have an opportunity to participate.
- We will conduct sessions without video or audio feeds or recording so that all participants are comfortable with open, honest discussions.
- We will agree to maintain the confidentiality of personal information and personnel matters.
- We will be professional and work together to find resolutions to partner concerns.
- We will set as an ambition and hopeful goal the completion of bargaining and the ratification of contracts in 2024.
Starbucks Workers United, which consists of 370 stores according to the Union's website, has complained about the poor working conditions and abuse that many Starbucks employees have faced on top of low pay.
Fox responded to the letter in a statement obtained by TheStreet.
"We just received the letter. We are reviewing it and will respond. We’ve never said no to meeting with Starbucks. Anything that moves bargaining forward in a positive way is most welcome," the statement read.
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