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Starbucks baristas extend strike to locations across the country ahead of Christmas Eve rush

Former employees and supporters join unionized Starbucks employees as they carry signs in support of a strike in Virginia in 2023.
Former employees and supporters join unionized Starbucks employees as they carry signs in support of a strike in Virginia in 2023.

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

  • Starbucks' largest workers' union announced that it would begin an escalating strike on Friday.
  • The union first announced a work stoppage in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Chicago before expanding.
  • The union said it was protesting Starbucks' labor practices and wages.

Starbucks' largest workers union announced that it would go on strike in cities nationwide, including Seattle, where it is headquartered, just days before Christmas.

Baristas from Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle were the first to announce their strike. On Saturday, a union representative confirmed to Business Insider that additional workers from Columbus, Denver, and Pittsburgh had joined the labor stoppage.

"We've been in contract negotiations with Starbucks for several months now, and things have been going smoothly up until this point โ€”ย when they have now refused to offer us a viable economic package," Shay Mannik, a barista in Denver who is on strike after working at Starbucks for two years, told Business Insider. "They just have not been offering us anywhere close to a living wage."

In a statement made on the union's X account, Starbucks Workers United said the strike would "escalate each day through Christmas Eve... unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work towards a foundational framework."

On Wednesday, the union told BI that it would strike to protest what it described as the company's failure to negotiate a sufficiently comprehensive pay package and hundreds of unresolved cases related to labor disputes.

"Starbucks baristas are going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on our promised path forward, starting tomorrow in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle," Starbucks Workers United said in Thursday statements.

It added that the strikes would soon be "coast-to-coast."

The union said the strikes could reach hundreds of stores unless the company works to achieve collective bargaining agreements.

The company has 11,161 self-operated stores and 7,263 licensed stores in North America. As of October, about 500 โ€” or about 4.5% โ€” of all stores were unionized.

"It's been really reassuring seeing a lot of our community members and the customers coming to support us," Diego Franco, a barista in the Chicago area who has worked at the coffee giant for over five years, told BI. "We've had a lot of our regulars come by, drop off supplies, drop off food, and stuff to help keep us warm."

In a Thursday post on Instagram, the union said, "Since February, Starbucks has repeatedly pledged publicly that they intended to reach contracts by the end of the year - but they've yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal."

Starbucks said in a public statement that the union delegates "prematurely ended" the bargaining session this week and that it was "disappointing they didn't return to the table given the progress we've made to date."

"We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements," the company wrote. "We need the union to return to the table."

A spokesperson for Starbucks told BI in a statement that the company "offers a competitive average pay of over $18 per hour, and best-in-class benefits."

The spokesperson said Starbucks also offers competitive benefits, including "health care, free college tuition, paid family leave, and company stock grants."

"No other retailer offers this kind of comprehensive pay and benefits package," the spokesperson added. "Workers United proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year contract. This is not sustainable."

The union, which represents more than 10,000 baristas, said on Tuesday that 98% of its member baristas had voted to authorize the strike.

News of the strike came just days after CEO Brian Niccol announced a change in the company's parental leave policy for US store employees.

Starting in March, Starbucks will offer up to 18 weeks of paid leave for birth parents and up to 12 weeks for nonbirth parents. The company currently offers US store employees six weeks of paid parental leave and up to 12 weeks unpaid. The increased benefit will apply to employees averaging at least 20 weekly work hours.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Five more Amazon facilities authorize worker strikes

Teamsters unions at five additional Amazon facilities have voted to go on strikes, following similar action in New York City and Illinois. The international Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced in a statement that union members โ€œunanimouslyโ€ approved measures to authorize strikes in four Southern California facilities and a fifth facility in Atlanta.

The four Southern California facilities are based in City of Industry, Palmdale, Victorville and San Bernardino, according to SiliconValley.com. This brings the total number of Amazon facilities that have authorized worker strikes to eight. The total includes a facility in Skokie, Illinois and two New York City warehouses on Staten Island and in Queens. The IBT represents just under 10,000 workers in 10 Amazon facilities nationwide.

These facilities approved a strike right in the middle of the holiday shopping season, one of the busiest and most lucrative times of the year for the online retail giant. Amazon crews went on strike to protest against low wages, hazardous working conditions and โ€œAmazonโ€™s illegal refusal to recognize their union,โ€ according to IBT statements.

Teamsters General President Sean N. Oโ€™Brien said in the statement that Amazon has failed to provide adequate compensation and protections for its workforce. If their demands are ignored, Oโ€™Brien says they will start strikes.

โ€œAmazon workers want to earn a good living, have decent health care and be safe on the job,โ€ Oโ€™Brien said. โ€œThey are done with the disrespect and if Amazon keeps pushing them, they will push them to strike.โ€

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/five-more-amazon-facilities-authorize-worker-strikes-185030459.html?src=rss

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ยฉ Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo via Getty Images

ORLANDO, FLORIDA DECEMBER 2: Amazon employees work to fulfill same-day orders during Cyber Monday, one of the company busiest days of the year. The fulfillment center, one of Amazon largest for same-day deliveries, saw more than 200 workers sorting, packing and shipping items throughout Central Florida. On any given day, this location processes more than 20,000 packages, but during the holiday season, that number jumps to more than 80,000. (Photo by Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images)

Photos show how Israeli airstrikes wiped out remnants of Assad's military in Syria

An aerial photo shows Syrian naval ships destroyed in an overnight Israeli attack.
An aerial photo showed Syrian warships destroyed in an overnight Israeli attack.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

  • Israel launched widespread strikes on Syria to wipe out the remnants of the Assad regime's military.
  • The strikes targeted Syrian weapon stockpiles after a rebel offensive ousted President Bashar Assad.
  • Israeli warplanes and missile ships destroyed Syrian aircraft, naval ships, and weapon depots.

The Israel Defense Forces launched widespread strikes across Syria over the past two days to wipe out what remained of the Assad regime's military arsenal.

The Israeli Air Force carried out about 480 strikes targeting most of the country's strategic weapon stockpiles left behind after rebels forced Syrian leader Bashar Assad to flee the country.

About 350 of the strikes were crewed aircraft targeting Syrian military assets, including aircraft, ammunition depots, storage facilities, and missile and radar systems. The Israeli Navy also destroyed several military vessels docked at two Syrian naval ports. The Israeli army seized strategic positions in the Golan Heights abandoned by Syrian troops.

Israeli officials said the extensive strikes on Syria were intended to prevent the Assad government's military infrastructure and weapons from being used by extremists and potential foes. Israel is exploiting the Assad regime's fall to enhance its security in the long term as it uses blistering force to cripple Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The fall of Assad
An opposition fighter celebrates as rebels burn down a military court in Damascus, Syria.
An opposition fighter celebrated as rebels burn down a military court in Damascus, Syria.

Hussein Malla/AP

After a decadeslong dictatorship, rebel forces seized control of the Syrian capital of Damascus over the weekend, forcing Assad to relinquish power and flee the country.

"We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad," Hassan Abdul-Ghani, commander of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, wrote in a post on social media. "To the displaced people around the world, free Syria awaits you."

Former Syrian prime minister Ghazi al-Jalali remained in the country after the collapse of the Assad regime, saying the government is willing to cooperate and support "any leadership chosen by the Syrian people."

Creating a 'sterile defense zone'
A boy carries an unexploded Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at the site of the Israeli airstrike that targeted Syrian weapon shipments.
A boy carried an unexploded Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at the site of the Israeli airstrike that targeted Syrian weapon shipments.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

While Israel supported ousting Assad, a staunch ally of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the situation in Syria is still "fraught with significant dangers" from the extremists now governing the country.

In the days after the dayslong rebel offensive ousted the Syrian dictator, Israel launched hundreds of strikes targeting Syrian military assets over 48 hours to prevent them "from falling into the hands of terrorist elements." HTS publicly split with the Al Qaeda affiliate from which it formed, but US officials believe it may still have links to Al Qaeda leaders.

"We have no intention of interfering in Syria's internal affairs, but we clearly intend to do what is necessary to ensure our security," Netanyahu said.

"I authorized the air force to bomb strategic military capabilities left by the Syrian army so that they would not fall into the hands of the jihadists," he said, adding that Israel "would like to form relations with the new regime in Syria."

The IDF said the strikes were part of a larger-scale mission known as Operation Bashan Arrow, intended to create a "sterile defense zone" by neutralizing potential threats from the neighboring country.

Sinking Syrian warships
Smoke billows around the charred hull of a destroyed Syrian naval ship after Israeli forces attacked Latakia port.
Smoke billows around the charred hull of a destroyed Syrian naval ship after Israeli forces attacked Latakia port.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli forces attacked key Syrian naval facilities in the port cities of Al-Bayda and Latakia late Tuesday, where more than a dozen Syrian naval vessels were docked.

Photos of the decimated port showed half-submerged Syrian warships. Some of the damaged vessels were Osa-class missile boats, Soviet-era vessels whose 30mm turrets and mounted missile launchers could be seen in the wreckage.

The Syrian navy, the smallest branch of the country's armed forces, operated over a dozen of the high-speed โ€” albeit outdated โ€” vessels developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.

Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz said Israeli Navy missile ships "destroyed Syria's navy overnight and with great success." It's not clear how many Syrian vessels were destroyed by Israeli warships in the overnight attack.

Satellite images of Latakia, a former stronghold of Assad, showed the charred wreckage of the naval ships. The IDF wrote in a post on X that "dozens of sea-to-sea missiles" with "significant explosive payloads" were also destroyed.

Destroying Syrian military aircraft
Military aircraft are damaged by Israeli airstrikes at Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, Syria.
Military aircraft were damaged by Israeli airstrikes at Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, Syria.

Bekir Kasim /Anadolu via Getty Images

The IAF carried out an airstrike on the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, once a key stronghold of the Assad regime's air force.

At least three major Syrian army air bases were attacked by Israeli warplanes, damaging dozens of helicopters and fighter jets, The Times of Israel reported. Locals living near the bases said they heard several explosions after the Israeli strikes appeared to ignite the ammunition stored there, the Associated Press reported.

Dismantling Syrian military infrastructure
An air defense radar is set ablaze after Israeli airstrikes target Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus,  Syria.
An air defense radar was set ablaze after Israeli airstrikes target Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus, Syria.

Ali Haj Suleiman/Getty Images

In addition to decimating Syria's aerial and naval fleet, the IDF said it carried out strikes on 130 military assets, such as firing positions, antiaircraft batteries, missile and radar systems, and weapons production sites.

Crippling Syria's chemical weapons infrastructure
A military research center affiliated with the Syrian defense ministry is destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.
A military research center affiliated with the Syrian defense ministry was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli forces also destroyed the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center in Damascus, a key facility thought to be testing and operating the country's covert chemical and biological weapons programs under the Assad regime.

The Barzeh facility was previously bombarded in 2018 by US, UK, and French forces in response to a poison sarin gas attack in Douma, Syria. The US found Assad's government responsible for the April 2018 chemical warfare attack that killed at least 40 people and injured over 100.

However, the head of the center's polymers department told Reuters at the time that the facility, now reduced to rubble, was used to research medicinal components that couldn't be imported, such as anti-venom and cancer treatments.

'Changing the face of the Middle East'
Israeli military forces cross the fence to and from the buffer zone with Syria in Golan Heights.
Israeli military forces crossed the fence from the buffer zone with Syria in Golan Heights.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

The fall of the Syrian regime weakens Iran's regional influence and could pose logistical and strategic challenges to Iran's regional proxies like the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

"The collapse of the Syrian regime is a direct result of the severe blows with which we have struck Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran," Netanyahu said during a Monday press conference. "The axis has not yet disappeared, but as I promised โ€” we are changing the face of the Middle East."

Despite the widespread strikes across Syria, Israeli military officials said the country's armed forces were operating beyond the Israeli-occupied demilitarized buffer zone in Golan Heights but not toward the Syrian capital.

"IDF forces are not advancing towards Damascus. This is not something we are doing or pursuing in any way," IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani said at a briefing. "We are not involved in what's happening in Syria internally, we are not a side in this conflict, and we do not have any interest other than protecting our borders and the security of our citizens."

Katz, Israel's defense minister, said the country was advancing beyond Golan Heights to impose a "security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures" in southern Syria.

"With regard to what will be in the future, I'm not a prophet," Katz said. "It is important right now to take all necessary steps in the context of the security of Israel."

Read the original article on Business Insider

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