Starbucks workers are still without a labor deal four years after their first union win. Here’s why

(CNN) — August Code works at the first ever Starbucks location to unionize in 2021. But four years after that vote, he and his co-workers in Buffalo, New York, are still waiting on their union contract.

“I would have imagined we would have seen a contract a long time ago,” Code told CNN. “To think we don’t have a contract four years later, yeah, that’s upsetting. I didn’t think we’d be at this point.”

Tuesday is the anniversary of the first union win at Starbucks. The union-organizing campaign there has been one of the biggest successes in the American labor movement in the past few years.

Concerns over working conditions during the pandemic spurred on younger workers, generally pro-union and who make up a large share of Starbucks’ workforce, to unionize. About 560 Starbucks locations have voted for union representation since that first vote four years ago, according to the union Starbucks Workers United. (An additional 90 stores that organized have closed amid a slew of store closings).

But despite the momentum, there is still no labor contract, a key goal of union representation. Contracts can further workers’ voices and improve wages, benefits and other working conditions.

US labor laws can’t help new unions force companies to reach a deal. The laws only require employers to bargain in “good faith,” meaning there are basically no penalties if companies drag out negotiations for years.

Liz Shuler, president of AFL-CIO, told CNN that the lack of a contract at Starbucks after four years is a sign labor laws need changing.

“People want to feel they’ve taken this risk and done it for a reason, and that would be to have a contract,” Shuler said. “I think they’ll get there. But it’s going to take some time because these corporations are able to withstand this kind of effort.”

Similar to Starbucks, other recent high-profile union campaigns haven’t yet reached a first contract.

That includes Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island, New York, who voted in 2022 to form the tech giant’s first union. And the United Auto Workers union last year won the right to represent workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee – the first shot at organizing the approximately 150,000 US auto workers employed at nonunion plants.

Both sides blame the other for lack of contract

Companies often show little willingness to meet the unions’ bargaining demands, even after their workers vote for representation.

Amazon doesn’t even recognize the victory at its unionized warehouse, continuing to challenge the results. Rank-and-file members have authorized a strike at the US Volkswagen plant, but no date has been set.

Starbucks regularly argues that its employees don’t need a union since it pays better wages and benefits than many other retailers. The union is seeking seeking wage improvement, better staffing at stores and improved scheduling rules.

Its workers continue to win representation elections. But talks between the union and management have dragged on for so long that many workers who voted in early elections have already left the company.

The two sides appear far apart on any deal, with each blaming the other since mediated talks ended this past spring.

“This company responded in such a way from the onset that we knew it was going to be a fight,” said Michelle Eisen, one of the leaders of that initial union campaign in Buffalo. She has since left the company after 15 years to work for the union.

Starbucks, meanwhile, insists it wants to reach a contract with the union.

“For months, we were at the bargaining table, working in good faith with Workers United and delegates from across the country to reach agreements that make sense for partners and for the long-term success of Starbucks,” Sara Kelly, a top Starbucks executive, told employees in a memo last month.

The union is waging an open-ended strike at about 150 stores that started on November 13 — also known as “Red Cup” day, one of Starbucks’ biggest promotional days every year.

“I truly believe this is the tipping point,” Eisen said “I’ve never seen workers as fired up as they are right now.”

Starbucks said that the strike did not affect sales that day and that the stores facing strikes are a small fraction of the 10,000 company-owned US stores. Less than 5% of Starbucks’ 240,000 front-line employees are union members.

But a union fight is another headache for Starbucks coming off years of declining sales and following hundreds of store closures in September. North American sales fell 2% over the 12 months ending in late September and would have fallen twice that much if not for increased prices. US tariffs have also boosted the price of coffee, which retails nearly 19% more than last year, according to the latest government data.

Difficult first contract is the norm

Failing to reach a quick first contract is not unique to Starbucks, or Amazon or Volkswagen.

Only 37% of newly formed unions reach an initial contract within a year, and 48% reach a deal within 18 months, according to ongoing research from by Johnnie Kallas, assistant professor of labor studies at the University of Illinois.

The American labor movement is seeking legislation that would help unions win that first contract more quickly.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, introduced legislation in March to impose binding arbitration if a newly formed union and the company can’t reach a contract within months.

“Workers are often prevented from enjoying the benefits of the union they voted to form when mega-corporations drag their feet, slow-walk contract negotiations, and try to erode support for the union,” Hawley said in a statement in March.

The bill has widespread Democratic support as well as a few other Republican co-sponsors. But the legislation has so far gone nowhere.

Despite the lack of legislation, Shuler voiced confidence the Starbucks union will eventually get the contract, especially because of the commitment of the union’s younger membership.

“I feel like they’re in it for the long haul,” she said.

Some of the union activists at Starbucks said the lack of a contract has made it easier to organize. That’s because it demonstrates the need for a union to improve conditions.

“It hasn’t slowed down our organizing efforts at all,” said Diego Franco, a striking union barista from Des Plaines, Illinois, and a member of the union’s bargaining committee.

Franco also expressed confidence in a win.

“Eventually, the company is going to cave and we’re going win the strong contract we’ve been fighting for – whether I’m still around or not,” he said.

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