Starbucks union authorizes strike ahead of bargaining session

Starbucks Workers United said Tuesday that 98% of union baristas have voted to authorize a strike as they seek a contract with the coffee giant.

Bargaining delegates are set to return to negotiations with Starbucks on Tuesday in the last scheduled session of the year with the goal of agreeing on a “foundational framework.” Starbucks and Workers United have spent hundreds of hours this year at the bargaining table, and both sides have put forward dozens of tentative agreements, the union said in press release.

However, hundreds of unfair labor practice cases still haven’t been settled, and the union said Starbucks hasn’t yet proposed a comprehensive package that would address barista pay and other benefits.

The strike authorization shows that relations between the two sides may again be cooling, after thawing in late February when both parties said that they found a “constructive path forward” though mediation. Prior to that point, Starbucks had fought the union boom that swept across its company-owned locations for the more than two years. The company’s attempts to curb the union movement led to backlash from some consumers and lawmakers, culminating with former CEO Howard Schultz testifying on Capitol Hill.

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol, who joined the company in September, committed to bargaining in good faith in a letter addressed to the union in his first weeks on the job.

Niccol announced on Monday that the company would double its paid parental leave, starting in March. However, baristas will reportedly receive a smaller annual pay hike next year than they have in previous years, following a sales slump at its U.S. locations.

More than 500 company-owned Starbucks cafes have voted to unionize under Workers United since the first elections that took place in Buffalo three years ago.

A representative for Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.