Philly Starbucks picket line steers customers to other coffee shops as nationwide strikes continue

On Christmas Eve around 9:20 a.m., some 25 striking Starbucks workers and their supporters stood outside the company’s outpost on 16th and Walnut Streets, drinking coffee and eating pastries — from nearby Levain Bakery, not Starbucks. Picketing in subfreezing temperatures, some were wearing hats, gloves, and clear rain jackets.

Baristas at some Philadelphia Starbucks locations are part of a wave of strikes across the country that began Friday. The Starbucks Workers United union and workers are protesting what they say are unfair labor practices amid stalled contract negotiations.

Philadelphia workers joined the strike on Sunday. The Walnut Street store closed by noon that day due to lack of staffing, union organizers said.

Outside that store Tuesday morning, picketers marched in a circle with red signs, chanting “Understaffed and underpaid, that is how your coffee’s made.” They booed the few customers who entered the store.

The union said in a statement on Tuesday morning that it expected over 5,000 workers to walk off the job at over 300 stores nationwide the day before Christmas.

Starbucks says some 60 stores in total closed because of the strikes over the weekend and Monday, according to a statement from Sara Kelly, executive vice president and chief partner officer.

On Tuesday, a company spokesperson said “only around 170 Starbucks stores did not open as planned.”

“With over 10,000 company operated stores, 98% of our stores and over 200,000 green apron partners [are] continuing to operate and serve customers during the holidays,” the statement reads.

The Walnut Street store remained open Tuesday morning, with two workers behind the counter and a few customers sitting at high chairs near the storefront windows. A few drinks were already made and waiting to be picked up at the counter.

Around 9:45 a.m., two customers in succession who had ordered ahead were intercepted by the picketers. They were handed flyers by the picketers instructing them on how to get a refund for their order, and they each walked away, seemingly convinced to shop elsewhere.

The union and Starbucks representatives have met at the bargaining table several times this year. Starbucks had said in a statement early this year that it hoped to have contracts ratified by the end of 2024.

With only a few days left in the year, the union called for a strike after a recent bargaining session failed to reach an agreement on increased wages.

The union is seeking increased starting wages for workers, up from $15.25 to $20 per hour, but recently said the company offered a 1.5% annual salary increase. According to the union, that would be less than 50 cents more per hour for the typical employee.

Benjamin Neate, a barista who works at the Starbucks on 22nd and South Streets, said they and their co-workers make about $17 an hour.

“It does make it kind of hard, because there are times where, like, I don’t know what to do for groceries,” Neate said at the rally Tuesday. “I sometimes have to go and check out, like, a soup kitchen to get food. It’s kind of pretty rough, to be honest.”

Starbucks offers employees over $18 per hour on average, and eligible employees get benefits including “health care, free college tuition, paid family leave, and company stock grants,” according to Kelly’s note.

“These proposals [from the union] are not sustainable, especially when the investments we continually make to our total benefits package are the hallmarks of what differentiates us as an employer — and, what makes us proud to work at Starbucks,” Kelly said.

Neate would also like to see better staffing at the stores.

“A lot of us, we’re kind of like burning the candle at both ends,” said Neate. “This job doesn’t have to be hard, it’s just when we don’t have the staffing, it becomes much more of a headache and it’s like, I don’t know, running into a brick wall.”

Lynne Fox, international president of Workers United, attended the Philadelphia rally on Tuesday and said Starbucks’ recent proposal doesn’t keep up with the cost of living.

“If they come back to the table with a viable economic proposal, support for these workers, and resolution of all the outstanding litigation and unfair labor practice charges, then I think that would be a good sign of wanting to work it out and have a partnership,” Fox said.