After voting to unionize, Starbucks will negotiate with the union through a process called “collective bargaining”. These meetings are required to be conducted in-person, unless both parties agree otherwise. Starbucks believes in-person negotiations would best facilitate the give and take of negotiations.
Bargaining agreements are complex documents, and the first contract, on average, takes more than a year to complete. To date, Starbucks has proposed more than 500 single-store bargaining sessions and has appeared in-person and ready to bargain at more than 120 sets of negotiations. Workers United has only confirmed 23% of the bargaining sessions proposed by the company. Use the lookup tool below to view store-specific bargaining updates.
Store Bargaining Status
Search by city or store number to find the latest on collective bargaining progress. Information is updated weekly – learn more about the lookup feature.
News and Updates
NLRB sets aside improperly conducted election at our Overland Park store
Read more about findings of substantial misconduct by local NLRB officials during the Overland Park union representation election and the NLRB’s decision to set aside the election results.
Partners at more than a dozen stores have filed for decertification: What does it mean?
Read more about our ongoing efforts to negotiate first contracts for each of our certified stores, and the decision by partners at eight stores to petition the NLRB for a decertification election.
Read more about our continued effort to progress negotiations towards a first contract for each represented store and why we think Workers United should prioritize bargaining over bus tours.
Meeting dates and locations are scheduled. Typically, several rounds of bargaining sessions are needed.
Step 2
Both the employer and the union bargaining committee share their contract proposals.
Step 3
Terms of the contract are debated between both parties. If common ground can’t be found, a mediator – unaffiliated with either group – may be brought in.
Step 4
An agreed-upon contract is presented to union members for a ratification vote.
Step 5
Members accept or reject the contract. If rejected, negotiations begin again or union members will go on strike. If members go on strike, pay for these partners relies on the union’s strike fund or the availability of state benefits as they will not be paid by Starbucks for shifts they do not work.