Starbucks increasing wages, benefits for most workers after record sales year

Following a fiscal year with record sales, Starbucks announced it will raise hourly wages and benefits for most of its U.S. workers.

The company announced Monday that eligible U.S. hourly workers will see at least a 3% incremental pay increase, beginning January 1. Employees with two to five years of service will get at least a 4% increase, and workers there for five years or longer will get at least 5%, according to the company.

Starbucks says it currently pays its hourly workers an average of $17.50 an hour. Last week, the company announced that by the end of 2025 fiscal year, it expects to double hourly income from 2020 through more hours and higher wages.

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Starbucks fight with union continues

But Starbucks said these pay increases and benefits may not be "unilaterally implemented" for unionized stores, as tensions between the company and union continue.

At least 366 Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize since 2021, according to the National Labor Relations Board, and Starbucks has yet to reach a labor agreement at any of those stores with Workers United, the union representing the workers.

Starbucks operates around 9,600 stores in the U.S., with another around 6,600 licensed stores.

Starbucks also announced that hourly workers will accrue paid vacation time 90 days after a hire instead of a year, beginning in February, a benefit that will be only available to workers at non-union stores.

A Starbucks spokesperson sought to make clear that Starbucks is continuing to adhere to its obligations to differentiate between unionized or organizing partners and employees in other stores.

"Starbucks will give all union-represented partners these annual wage increases differentiated by tenure consistent with previous, historical practice for each store," Angele Busch, a Starbucks senior manager in corporate communications, wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "Wages, benefits, and/or terms and conditions may not be unilaterally implemented for partners in stores with organizing underway and may be subject to collective bargaining in good faith for partners in stores with certified union representation."

In a statement shared with USA TODAY, Workers United said the new benefits are "a victory for our campaign, and show that when workers join together and raise our voice, we can force powerful companies to make changes they'd never make if we did not stand up."

But the union also said in the statement that the denial of some new benefits to unionized stores is against the law and a "clear continuation" of an "illegal union-busting campaign," and said it will file an unfair labor practice charge.

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