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Starbucks and Workers United are heading back to the bargaining table this week, the union confirmed in an email to Quartz.
This week’s session picks up where the two parties left off in late April, when Starbucks and Workers United, the union that covers workers across the chain’s U.S. locations, said that they had made “significant progress.”
That bargaining period, however, took place just days before the company reported second quarter earnings that revealed the chain was struggling to reach consumers globally. Starbucks said that sales and in-store traffic had both declined during the period, prompting its shares to fall to its worst post-earnings level since 2000.
The dismal performance also garnered the attention of Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ former chief executive officer. In a LinkedIn post, Schultz said the company’s “U.S. operations are the primary reason for the company’s fall from grace,” and that “the stores require a maniacal focus on the customer experience, through the eyes of a merchant.”
“The answer does not lie in data, but in the stores,” Schultz said.
Even with a decline in consumer spending, the chain’s current CEO Laxman Narasimhan told investors during the earnings call in May that Starbucks was fully committed to its “Triple Shot Strategy,” which included making improvements to its U.S. stores.
“Specifically in our U.S. stores, we’re focused on creating a more stable environment for partners through investments in equipment innovation, process improvements, staffing, scheduling and waste reduction, all things our partners value, and prioritize creating a more satisfying work environment in our stores while de-risking our business,” Narasimhan said.
Bargaining talks this week could provide more clarity on where the chain stands as it looks to improve its relationship with its employees, who are pushing for better pay and enhanced benefits, as well as improvement in staffing and scheduling.
In the meantime, Starbucks is moving along with store and product redesigns. Thus far, the chain has opened new locations with improved features, including dampening baffles in its ceilings to diminish background noise and echos. Those changes are also in part meant to help customers with hearing loss.