Starbucks agrees to US union organizing 'framework'

Starbucks and a union seeking to organize the coffee chain's U.S. workforce said on Tuesday they have agreed to create a "framework" to guide organizing and collective bargaining and potentially settle scores of pending legal disputes.

Starbucks and Workers United said in a joint announcement that during talks last week to settle an ongoing court case, "a constructive path forward emerged" on the future of the nationwide labor campaign that began in 2021 and has led workers to unionize at nearly 400 of the company's 9,000 U.S. stores.

The coffee chain and the union said they agreed to begin discussions on a "foundational framework" that includes a fair process for workers to organize and a process to achieve collective bargaining agreements on a store-by-store basis.

Starbucks said that "as a sign of good faith" it agreed to provide workers at unionized stores with benefits that were granted to non-union workers in 2022, including the ability to receive customer tips from credit card transactions.

The announcement is a remarkable turn in a contentious battle, with both sides accusing the other of improper and unlawful conduct. Starbucks in December said it would resume bargaining talks with the union.