Starbucks Strike Has Not Reached Wyoming – Yet

The Starbucks Union strike has expanded across the nation but has skipped Wyoming, so far.

Back in 2023 Starbucks employees in downtown Cheyenne Wyoming had gone on strike over their right to unionize.

Their Wyoming grievances matched the ones now being voiced at other locations nationwide.

So far nothing has been said about joining the national strike from unionized Starbucks employees in Cheyenne or anywhere else in Wyoming.

There are now 60 Starbucks locations across the U.S. participating in a strike that started Friday, Dec. 20, in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle but has grown to more cities and may last through Christmas Eve.

Striking locations include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, St. Louis, Dallas, Denver, and Portland, Oregon.

Strikers accuse the company of failing to honor its pledge to reach a labor agreement with the union this year.

They complain that the company hasn’t done enough to resolve hundreds of complaints filed by workers with the National Labor Relations Board.

“Our hope is that this will, they will come back to the bargaining table and they will give us livable wages so that we can afford to pay our rent, we can afford our groceries, we can afford to live,” said Kai Krawczeniuk, a striking Starbucks employee.

“Because right now, we’re struggling. And it is not okay for this company to be making billions and billions of dollars while its employees can barely afford rent.”

 

Starbucks says it has committed to annual raises of at least 1.5% for unionized workers. The company says workers earn an average of $18 per hour but can get a package worth $30 an hour when factoring in benefits.

But being a barista was never meant to be a full-time job or a career move. It is doubtful the job will ever pay a living wage.