Starbucks Labor Dispute Could Spread

A labor dispute at a few Starbucks outlets in British Columbia may spark protests at the chain’s stores elsewhere in Canada, says a union official.

Union negotiators, frustrated by slow talks to negotiate a first contract with the Seattle-based gourmet coffee chain, have promised job action today when a provincial mediator is set to officially broker the talks.

“I’m not anticipating there will be picket lines on Friday,” John Bowman, a representative of the Canadian Auto Workers, said Wednesday.

“There may be anything from button campaigns to leafleting of customers to (staff) not wearing their uniforms.”

For almost a month, a mediator has been trying to help Starbucks reach a first contract with 107 employees at eight stores and a company distribution center in the Vancouver area.

The workers have already given the union a strike vote. There are no other unions at any of the chain’s 1,157 stores.

Starbucks employees in British Columbia have a starting wage of about $7 an hour. The CAW has said it wants that increased to at least about $10 an hour.

The talks in British Columbia, where the company has 93 of its 129 Canadian stores, marks the second time that Starbucks has had to deal with a union. A previous union drive at a U.S. facility fizzled.

Starbucks was founded in 1971 and opened its first Canadian outlet in Vancouver in 1987.