STARBUCKS is set to hold talks with labour representatives from stores that have voted to unionise in a key step towards reaching contracts, both sides said on Tuesday.

The labour group, Workers United, plans to send representatives of 425 stores that have voted to unionise in the United State to the meetings beginning on Wednesday, the group said.

The goal is to establish a “foundational framework” on key issues such as wages, scheduling policy and access to health care, the union said.

The talks “mark a major step forward towards establishing strong contracts for more than 10,000 and growing Starbucks Workers United partners who have won their union, and with it, a seat at the table to build a stronger Starbucks,” the union said.

While proposals affecting all employees at unionised stores can be raised, the contracts will be negotiated by each individual store and ratified accordingly, Starbucks said.

“This exciting progress on the foundational framework, announced in February, is intended to achieve both collective bargaining agreements for represented stores and resolve litigation, including that related to the Starbucks brand,” Starbucks said.

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“This is a positive step toward achieving our December goal of reaching ratified contracts for represented stores in 2024.”

Starbucks has nearly 18,000 stores in North America, about 60 per cent which are company-owned and the rest of which are licensed, according to a securities filing.

The push by Workers United garnered momentum after an initial successful campaign in Buffalo, New York in late 2021.

However, the two sides struggled to make headway on contract talks, leading to criticism of the coffee giant by labour backers such as Vermont progressive Senator Bernie Sanders.

In February, Starbucks announced it was providing benefits to employees at unionised stores that had been added at non-union stores in the wake of the labour campaign, including credit card tipping.

The addition of these benefits was a “sign of good faith,” Starbucks said in the Feb 27 announcement.

The company added in the February statement that Laxman Narasimhan, who became chief executive in April 2023, had a goal of “restitching the fabric of the green apron for all partners at Starbucks.” AFP