Letter To Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan from 21 Unionizing Stores

Dear Laxman,

We, the Partners of 21 stores across the country, have decided to follow in the footsteps of over 396 other stores and nearly ten thousand partners to demand better from Starbucks Coffee Company. Though we work at different stores, we are united through our shared experiences and in our demand for higher wages, fair and consistent scheduling, improved benefits, and a safe and dignified workplace. 

Starbucks has made a habit of prioritizing sales and profits over partner safety. We have worked through violent threats from customers, unsafe weather conditions, and a global pandemic. Despite our willingness to work regardless of this disregard for our health and safety, we have been met with higher and higher expectations without being given the resources to meet them. 

Problems with management are not unique to any of our stores. Across the country management is cutting hours, writing inconsistent and unreliable schedules, and placing more and more work on fewer and fewer partners. Starbucks’ profit driven behavior makes doing our jobs impossible. We cannot keep up with constant promotions, dilapidated equipment, and unclean stores. It's clear to us now more than ever that this one-sided relationship is no longer working.  

We “partners” demand a say. We are the face of Starbucks. As employees, we deserve the same respect and dignity as the CEO. This dignity includes fair pay, clear communication with all partners, a say in the decisions that affect our day to day, better power balance, and manageable expectations. Partners are not merely your workers but human beings, who have the right to pursue happiness outside of our work.

We hereby demand recognition of the Union as the bargaining representative for all full-time and regular part-time baristas and shift supervisors employed by Starbucks at the undersigned facilities. We are willing to demonstrate our majority support at the undersigned stores to a neutral party or to a Starbucks representative. We demand that Starbucks immediately begin bargaining with the Union over terms and conditions of employment.

In solidarity,

The Partners of

24964 - Rodney Parham - Little Rock, AR

7509 - Old Westbury - Long Island, NY

50547 - Highway 4 & Hillcrest - Antioch, CA

48170 - 4th Ave & 11th St - Park Slope, NY

5324 - San Pedro Square - San Jose, CA

6665 - McCarran & Lakeside - Reno, NV

5961 - Seal Beach & St. Cloud - Seal Beach, CA

49558 - Grove City - Columbus, OH 

5718 - Jewell & Wadsworth - Lakewood, CO

11149 - Loop 288 & I-35 - Denton, TX

9693 - 17th & Hover - Longmont, CO

10058 Kimball Junction - Kimball Junction, UT

13319 - Madison & Wells - Chicago, IL

65030 - I-81 & Roanoke St - Christiansburg, VA

66370 - 58th & Western - Chicago, IL

18628 - 164th & Bothell Hwy - Mill Creek, WA

74058 - I-10 & HWY 108 - Sulfur, LA

2655 - Monona & Broadway - Madison, WI

9306 - Washington & Demers - Grand Forks, ND

64906 - Rimrock & Beltline - Madison, WI

7627 - Garden City - Long Island, NY