The United Steelworkers union (USW) welcomes an agreement settled through the B.C. Labour Relations Board that Starbucks will pay wage increases to employees at its Clayton Heights, Valley Centre and Dunbar Street stores in Metro Vancouver where unionized workers had been denied an annual wage increase.
The wage increases were announced for non-union stores effective May 15, 2023. At the time, workers at the three stores had applied for union certification but did not yet have a collective agreement. USW Local 2009 subsequently filed an unfair labour practice complaint with the B.C. Labour Relations Board regarding the denial of the wage increase for employees at these three stores.
“Our focus is to make sure Starbucks Partners are treated fairly and with the respect they deserve – withholding wage increases is not respectful,” said Al Bieksa, President of USW Local 2009.
“For the past few months, we have been working to negotiate, in good faith, the first collective agreements for these Partners and I am pleased that we have come to an agreement with Starbucks to resolve this unfair labour complaint. As part of our agreement with Starbucks, we have withdrawn the unfair labour complaint at the Labour Relations Board,” said Bieksa.
The agreement further states that Starbucks will pay employees at the three unionized stores for their wage loss incurred since May 15, 2023.
The merits of the unfair labour complaint were not adjudicated before the B.C. Labour Relations Board, but the parties accepted the settlement agreement.
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