Raphael Stevens

Sports Media

Major League Soccer is getting a new TV home through its media rights partner, Apple.
Beginning next season, all MLS games will be available on the Apple TV streaming service, broadening the league’s reach after only being available for a separate subscription via Apple’s Season Pass.
Apple will sunset the Season Pass package beginning next season.
On Thursday MLS also announced it would be shifting its calendar to align with global soccer leagues.

Inter Miami CF forward Lionel Messi (10) scores a goal during the first half against the New England Revolution at Gillette Stadium.
Paul Rutherford | Imagn Images Via Reuters Connect

Major League Soccer is stepping onto a bigger stage next year, when all of its matches will find a new home on Apple TV.
Beginning in the 2026 season, MLS games will be available on Apple’s flagship streaming platform, which currently includes Major League Baseball games as well as scripted series like “Severance.”

The move marks a big shift for both the league and Apple’s media strategy, as the tech giant will end Season Pass — the separate subscription service for MLS games provided by Apple.
Apple and MLS had inked a 10-year media rights deal in 2022 that saw Apple become the exclusive global home to the U.S. professional soccer league. However, rather than feature matches on the fledgling streaming service, Apple instead launched Season Pass for an additional subscription solely for MLS games.
“This idea that you could watch all of our matches in one place with a push of the button globally was unprecedented. We really, really liked that concept with Season Pass, and it worked because people reacted really well to the product,” MLS Deputy Commissioner Gary Stevenson said in an interview.
Season Pass — which costs $14.99 a month, compared to the $12.99 charged for the separate monthly Apple TV subscription — kicked off in 2023. Apple doesn’t provide subscriber metrics for its streaming services.
Stevenson said that conversations about moving the league to Apple TV started as Apple’s main streaming platform grew.

“They came to us and said, ‘Let’s put it on Apple TV,’ and we said, ‘We’re all in,'” said Stevenson. “So this was good news for us.”
While Stevenson didn’t go into specifics, some terms of the deal changed as part of the move to Apple TV.
“But it’s not like it was a big renegotiation because what we’ve been focused on is the distribution, and how to make it a better and more accessible experience for the fans,” said Stevenson.
Since jumping into the streaming game, Apple has methodically added sports to its platform and has secured exclusive rights in an increasingly fragmented sports viewing ecosystem.
Most recently Apple and Formula 1 inked a five-year exclusive media rights deal, meaning all races will stream on Apple TV in the U.S. beginning next year. Apple is paying roughly $140 million annually for the F1 rights, CNBC previously reported.
Apple has been looking to change the current sports viewing experience. While live sports garners huge audiences in the pay TV bundle, the rise of streaming has led to a fractured market in which consumers often require multiple subscriptions to watch one sport.
At a recent event, Apple Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue said the market has “gone backwards,” when it comes to sports viewership.
“You used to buy one subscription, your cable subscription, and you got pretty much everything they had. Now, there’s so many different subscriptions, so I think that needs to be fixed,” Cue said during a panel in October.
Since MLS kicked off its media rights deal with Apple, there has been little information about how Season Pass has performed — and some skepticism about its success.
However, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told CNBC Sport in an interview last year that Apple Season Pass subscriptions had exceeded expectations, though he declined to provide specific numbers.
“We have more subscribers than we and Apple thought we would have,” Garber told CNBC at the time, adding that there would be more transparency at a later date.
Apple also doesn’t release numbers for Apple TV, but Cue has reportedly said that the platform has “significantly more than 45 million” viewers.
The broader reach for the league will come after the MLS completed its 30th season. It has been working to capitalize on the growth of soccer’s popularity in the U.S., particularly ahead of the World Cup, which will take place in North America next year.
The league, which pales in comparison to the popularity of the NFL, NBA and other U.S. pro sports that have existed for decades before the MLS, has also seen fandom increase in recent years after global superstar Lionel Messi started playing for Inter Miami CF.

Changing the clocks

On Thursday, the MLS made another big change when it announced that it would shift its calendar to align with the schedule of global soccer leagues.
MLS’s postseason during the fall has coincided with one of the busiest times in U.S. — the start of the NFL, NBA and NHL seasons and the heart of MLB’s postseason, which recently garnered high viewership.
The shift will also allow MLS teams to more seamlessly take part in the worldwide player transfer window during the summer.
“Participation in the most active transfer window will now enhance, rather than disrupt, a team’s ambitions for the season,” according to a news release.
Currently, MLS’s regular season schedule runs from February through October, followed by playoffs and then the championship game taking place in December. Beginning in the summer of 2027, the MLS will adopt the new calendar. More

The fall auction sales in New York next week are expected to top $1.4 billion, marking a 50% increase from last year, according to art experts.
That would be a rebound from three years of declines.
A generational divide has led to two different art markets — a multimillion-dollar high-end that’s been declining and a vibrant lower-priced market that’s attracting younger collectors.

The fall auction sales in New York next week are expected to top $1.4 billion, marking a 50% increase from last year and a potential rebound for the art market after three years of declines, according to art experts.
A star-studded lineup of famous trophy works — from a $150 million Gustav Klimt portrait to a multimillion-dollar gold toilet — will lead the auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips next week. Often the most important week of the year for the art market, the sales follow stronger-than-expected results for recent sales in Paris and London and could restore confidence in the art market.

Dealers and auction executives said the improvement is being driven by stronger demand as well as better supply. Falling interest rates, soaring stock prices and trillions of dollars in wealth creation in both public and private markets in recent months are fueling greater confidence by wealthy buyers.
At the same time, a parade of ultra-rare masterpieces are starting to come cross the auction block as sellers become more confident in prices and bidding.
“All year long we’ve seen very strong demand in the art market,” said Charles Stewart, Sotheby’s CEO. “Our demand levels have been setting records, whether that’s bidders per lot or our hammer [prices] versus our low estimate or our sell-through rates. What we’ve seen more recently, though, is the supply catching up with the demand. Something’s definitely shifted in the last two months.”
The big headliners for the week come from the estates of Leonard Lauder — the billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder Companies — and Jay and Cindy Pritzker, of the Pritzker real estate dynasty. Sotheby’s is selling 55 works from the Lauder collection for a total of over $400 million. The works include Klimt’s colorful “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” estimated at over $150 million, as well as two Klimt landscapes, one estimated at over $70 million and the other over $80 million. It also features six bronze Matisse sculptures and one of Edvard Munch’s famous “Midsummer Night” paintings.

This David Hockney work at Christie’s, “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy,″ is estimated to go for $40 million to $60 million.
Crystal Lau | CNBC

The Pritzker collection includes 37 works estimated at over $120 million, including a Van Gogh still life estimated at more than $40 million.

Christie’s has several sought-after works estimated at between $40 million and $60 million, including Monet’s “Nymphéas” water lily painting, David Hockney’s “Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy.” It’s also offering Mark Rothko’s “No. 31 (Yellow Stripe)” for more than $50 million.
“I think next week will be a giant sigh of relief that we’ve gotten over the worst,” said Andrew Fabricant, the veteran art advisor. “The mood is better, and given the quality of what they’ve got, I think they’ll do well. You don’t need 20 years of art history to understand the appeal of those Klimt paintings.”
Sotheby’s will benefit in part from the opening last week of its new global headquarters at the famous Breuer Building in Manhattan. The building — considered a masterpiece of brutalist architecture, strategically located on the Madison Avenue luxury shopping corridor — is already packed with crowds, with more than 10,000 visiting the exhibit as of Wednesday. The buzz and visibility is core to Sotheby’s strategy of attracting new collectors and educating the next generation of bidders about about art and culture.
“This is a tremendously important moment for us,” Stewart said of the building’s opening. “I think a number of our consigners [sellers] were also excited by the opportunity.”

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Still, after three years of declines in auction sales, some dealers and art experts wonder whether next week’s rebound will have staying power. As older collectors fade from the auction scene, the next generation of buyers and collectors is showing different priorities and tastes.
While older collectors often sought status trophies and “wall power” by well-recognized artists, younger collectors are leaning toward emerging artists and lower-priced works. The generational divide has led to two different art markets — a multimillion-dollar high-end that’s been declining and a vibrant lower-priced market that’s attracting younger collectors.
Sales for works priced over $10 million fell 44% in the first half of the year compared to 2024, and plunged 72% from the post-pandemic peak of 2022, according to the Bank of America Private Bank “Art Market Update.” No works sold at auction for more than $50 million in the first half of this year, compared with 13 sales at that price point in the same period in 2022.  
In 2024, dealers with sales of less than $250,000 reported a 17% increase in sales, compared with a 9% decline for those in the $10 million-plus segment.
“The more mature collectors are aging out and the next cohort may come with different motivations or tastes,” said Drew Watson, head of art services at Bank of America. “Many of that older generation of collectors over the past 30 years — the hedge fund principals, the private equity investors — are getting to the point where they are not as focused on accumulation and more focused on succession and transition.”
Watson said the declines in auction market totals, due largely to weakness at the very high end, has obscured an increasingly thriving gallery and art fair scene filled with younger collectors buying and learning about new artists. Younger collectors are also more interested in forging direct connections with artists rather than buying in the secondary market or auctions.
“Collecting as a lifestyle seems to be on the rise,” he said. “The art fairs are packed.”

Sotheby’s will be auctioning off Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, called “America” as part of its fall auction.
Crystal Lau | CNBC

The sales next week will also feature a work that’s already sparked global debate over wealth and art. Sotheby’s will be auctioning off “America,” a solid gold toilet made by the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, who also created the infamous duct-taped banana (titled “Comedian”) that sold at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million.
“America” is one of two toilets that Cattelan made from 100 kilograms (about 220 pounds) of solid 18-karat gold. One version went on exhibit at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016, where it was installed in a bathroom and attracted long lines of visitors.  
It later went on display at the Blenheim Palace in England, where it was stolen and assumed to have been melted down for the gold.
The second one, which is the work being sold, went to a private collector. The New York Times reported that Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire and New York Mets owner, is the seller.
While Sotheby’s hasn’t given a sales estimate for “America,” the gold itself would be worth about $13 million with today’s prices, which have soared over the past year.
Stewart said “America,” like “Comedian,” is a true cultural phenomena.
“What I loved about the banana last year was how it stirred discussion,” he said. “Everywhere I went around the world, people had a point of view on it, whatever it might be, and it prompted so much animated debate. I think ‘America’ will be much the same, because there’s so many different threads of the work that are fascinating — whether it is the object itself, whether it is the title, whether it is the gold, whether it is the art-historical references. When you put it all together, it’s just something that’s tremendously exciting.”
Many dealers and art experts take a different view, saying “America” is pure spectacle rather than art, and says little about serious collectors or artists.
“It’s a headline grabber that has nothing to do with art whatsoever,” Fabricant said. More

Roughly 3,200 Boeing defense workers have been on strike since Aug. 4, their first stoppage since 1996.
Boeing’s latest contract offer includes a $6,000 ratification bonus, as well as a 24% general wage increase the manufacturer previously pitched.
The workers assemble and maintain F-15 fighter jets as well as missile systems.

FILE PHOTO: A Boeing logo is seen before the opening of the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, June 13, 2025.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters

Boeing defense workers approved on Thursday on a new contract that will end a more than three-month strike that has delayed the manufacturer’s production of F-15 fighter jets and other programs.
The workers rejected previous offers, with their union saying the proposals failed to address concerns.

The contract proposal the roughly 3,200 workers voted on Thursday includes 24% wage increases over five years as well as a $6,000 up-front bonus, up from $3,000, though it gets rid of a previous Boeing proposal for $4,000 in payments later on. That will bring average base pay from $75,000 to $109,000 over the contract, Boeing had said.
The mostly St. Louis-based workers, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 837, went on strike on Aug. 4, their first stoppage since 1996.
“We’re proud of what our members have fought for together and are ready to get back to building the world’s most advanced military aircraft,” IAM District 837 said in a statement Thursday.

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Boeing’s defense unit accounted for about 30% of the $65.5 billion in sales the company brought in during the first nine months of 2025.
“We’re pleased with the results and look forward to bringing our full team back together on Nov. 17 to support our customers,” Boeing said.

“The strike impacted our fighter production, so F-15, F-18 mods as well as some of our munitions work,” CEO Kelly Ortberg said at a Morgan Stanley investor conference on Sept. 11.
Boeing brought in non-IAM-represented workers during the strike for some of its products, Ortberg said last month.
The union workers will return to Boeing factories again as early as Sunday.
The defense unit workers went on strike about a year after more than 32,000 unionized machinists who build commercial aircraft walked off the job for seven weeks after failed contract talks last year. More

Foreclosure starts, which are the initial phase of the process, rose 6% for the month and were 20% higher than the year before.
Competed foreclosures, the final phase, were up 32% year over year.
Florida, South Carolina and Illinois led the nation in state foreclosure filings.

fstop123 | E+ | Getty Images

Foreclosure filings climbed again in October, after sitting at historic lows in recent years, according to new data released Thursday.
While the numbers are still small, the persistent rise in foreclosures may be a sign of cracks in the housing market.

There were 36,766 U.S. properties with some type of foreclosure filing in October — such as default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions, according to Attom, a property data and analytics firm. That was 3% higher than September and a 19% jump from October 2024, and marked the eighth straight month of annual increases, Attom said.
Foreclosure starts, which are the initial phase of the process, rose 6% for the month and were 20% higher than the year before. Competed foreclosures, the final phase, jumped 32% year over year.
“Even with these increases, activity remains well below historic highs. The current trend appears to reflect a gradual normalization in foreclosure volumes as market conditions adjust and some homeowners continue to navigate higher housing and borrowing costs,” said Attom CEO Rob Barber in a release.
Florida, South Carolina and Illinois led the nation in state foreclosure filings. On a metropolitan area level, Florida’s Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando had the most filings, with Riverside, California, and Cleveland rounding out the top five.
Looking specifically at completed foreclosures, Texas, California and Florida had the most, suggesting those states will see more inventory coming on the market at distressed prices. There is still very strong demand for homes, especially in lower price ranges, so it is likely those foreclosed properties will find buyers quickly.

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At the peak of the Great Recession, more than 4% of mortgages were in foreclosure, according to Rick Sharga, CEO of CJ Patrick Co., a real estate market intelligence firm. Today, less than 0.5% are in foreclosure, well below the historic average of between 1% and 1.5%. In addition, 4% of mortgages are delinquent; at the peak of the financial crisis, almost 12% were.
“So, no foreclosure tsunami to worry about,” said Sharga. “That said, there are a few areas of concern. [Federal Housing Administration] delinquencies are over 11%, and account for 52% of all seriously delinquent loans; we’re likely to see more FHA loans in foreclosure in 2026.”
He also noted that states where home prices have been falling while insurance premiums have been soaring — Florida and Texas, in particular — are seeing an uptick in defaults. 
While home prices nationally are easing, they remain stubbornly high. Meanwhile, mortgage rates, which were expected to fall more sharply after the Federal Reserve started to cut rates, are still within a percentage point of their recent highs. Some recent buyers who thought they might have been able to refinance to lower rates by now may be feeling pressure, especially with still stubborn inflation.
Consumer debt is at an all-time high, delinquencies are rising in other types of consumer credit and the job market appears to be weakening — all of which could contribute to cracks in the housing market.
“None of these issues have impacted mortgage performance – yet, but it would be unrealistic to assume that these trends, along with slow home sales and declining home price appreciation, won’t lead to at least a slight increase in delinquencies and defaults in the months ahead,” added Sharga. More

The congressional funding bill included a THC cap that effectively bans most hemp products, a move industry leaders say threatens the $28 billion market.
More than 300,000 jobs are at risk, with economic impacts expected in states with large hemp sectors, including Kentucky, Texas and Utah, industry experts said.
Executives warn the ban could fuel a surge in black-market sales if federal regulations aren’t adopted within a year, as demand for hemp-derived THC remains strong.

The hemp industry is bracing for layoffs, production reductions and billions in lost revenue after Congress passed a government funding bill late Wednesday containing a surprise provision that will ban nearly all hemp-derived consumer products.
Hemp, a derivative of the cannabis plant, was legalized in the 2018 Farm Bill for industrial uses like rope, textiles and seed. But the law’s broad definition created a loophole in federal rules on THC — the psychoactive compound responsible for a high — experts said, allowing producers to extract psychoactive cannabinoids from federally legal hemp. Companies used that opening to flood the market with gummies, drinks and vapes capable of delivering a marijuana-like high.

The new ban, tucked into legislation ending the longest shutdown in history, outlaws products containing more than 0.4 milligrams of total THC per container. Industry executives said that threshold will wipe out 95% of the $28 billion hemp retail market when it takes effect in a year.
For reference, a single hemp gummy typically contains 2.5 to 10 milligrams of THC, according to the Journal of Cannabis Research.
“We have lost the battle this time,” said Jonathan Miller, the U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s general counsel. “In effect, this is a total, all out, complete ban on hemp products in the United States.”

Cannabis beer and other cannabis-infused drinks will be available at a stand at the “Mary Jane” hemp trade fair. 
Monika Skolimowska | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

The new cap replaces the 2018 Farm Bill’s definition of hemp, which was based on THC concentration and allowed products with less than 0.3% THC by weight instead of total amount.
“We have a year to figure this out but in the meantime you could see losses across the industry if we can’t,” Miller said.

More than 300,000 jobs tied to the hemp economy are at risk, according to Whitney Economics, a hemp and cannabis research firm, from farmers and extractors to manufacturers, logistics firms and retailers.
The ripple effects could hit land use, contracted acreage and equipment financing, as farmers who scaled up hemp cultivation after 2018 could suddenly face canceled or restructured contracts, said Michael Gorenstein, CEO of marijuana producer Cronos Group. States with the biggest hemp infrastructure like Kentucky, Texas and Utah are likely to face the steepest economic fallout, hemp executives said.
“There’s a lot of the small retailers, small businesses and farmers that are relying on hemp sales to survive,” Gorenstein told CNBC. “It’s going to create a lot of pressure when they start losing business, losing jobs and losing crops.”
The crackdown marks a dramatic reversal from 2018 when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., championed hemp legalization to create a new national agricultural commodity and economic driver for Kentucky.
But after that bill passed, the absence of federal rules allowed a patchwork market to emerge, with widespread safety issues from mislabeled and untested products to items with potency rivaling recreational marijuana, according to government officials and industry experts.
McConnell and other Republicans argued the new restriction “restores the original intent” of the Farm Bill. Closing the loophole, McConnell has said, is key to protecting his agriculture-policy legacy before his retirement next year.
“This was his [McConnell’s] signature law, the hemp law, and he wanted to correct it,” Boris Jordan, CEO of cannabis company Curaleaf, told CNBC. “Usually the Senate will back a retiring senator, particularly someone as senior as him, as their last action. This was a request by him at the last minute.”
But not all Republicans agree. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has sparred with his colleagues for months over hemp and blasted the provision as an overreach that is “killing jobs and crushing farmers,” adding that “every hemp seed in the country will have to be destroyed.”
“This is the most thoughtless, ignorant proposal to an industry that I’ve seen in a long, long time,” Paul said after the ban was passed.

In this July 5, 2018 photo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell inspects a piece of hemp taken from a bale of hemp at a processing plant in Louisville, Ky. McConnell led the push in Congress to legalize hemp.
AP Photo | Bruce Schreiner

While leaders like Jordan said the legal market will sharply contract from a ban, they caution the consumer demand for hemp-derived THC will not. Studies have shown demand for marijuana and other THC-based products has continued rising in recent years as some consumers move away from alcohol and drink less overall.
Cannabis executives warned that rising popularity could drive billions in black-market sales, where products face no testing, no age restrictions and no tax compliance.
“What this ban is going to do is it’s going to force all those little players right now into the illegal market,” Jordan said. “Companies have got way too much money invested in this and the demand is still there and growing. They [companies] aren’t just going to go away, they’re just going to go into the illicit market and put more people at risk.”
And as products move underground, law enforcement agencies could struggle to trace supply chains, Gorenstein said.
“Bad actors thrive when things disappear from the formal economy,” Gorenstein said.
State and local governments could also lose out on millions in tax revenue tied to hemp sales, Gorenstein and Miller said. Several states use those funds to support addiction services, county budgets and public health programs.
Moving forward, industry leaders argue the only durable solution is federal standards, not prohibition. Many favor a model splitting responsibility between agencies: the Food and Drug Administration for oversight for product safety and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau for taxation and distribution.
Executives have also compared the current environment to the early e-cigarette boom, when products like Juul offered fruity and candy-like cartridges that spread quickly, with uneven oversight, before the FDA intervened.
“Too many people have taken liberties that put the end user at risk,” cannabis company Verano Holdings CEO George Archos told CNBC. “We like the tight regulation. We want the safety of the consumer being set in mind for every product that’s being produced and that’s what we hope is being accomplished.”
In the meantime, the industry is preparing a full-court lobbying push aimed at replacing the ban with federal testing, labeling and age-restriction rules.
“We already have members of Congress introducing regulation bills. We are pledging our support and we are working on the grassroots to get citizens activated around the issue,” Miller said. “We are activating across the sector.”
Simultaneously, the Trump administration is “looking at” reclassifying marijuana from a Schedule I drug — alongside heroin and LSD — to a Schedule III drug. The move would not legalize recreational marijuana, but it would make it easier to sell, advocates said.
“Big changes are expected across the board next year but what they will be could determine the future of investments and the industry,” Gorenstein said. More

Starbucks Workers United launched a strike in more than 40 cities and 65 stores on the day of chain’s Red Cup Day sales event.
The open-ended strike, which will start with about 1,000 baristas and could expand in the coming days, could disrupt Starbucks’ key holiday season.
The union and the coffee giant have blamed the other side for failure to reach a collective bargaining agreement.

Starbucks Workers United launched an open-ended strike in more than 40 cities Thursday on Red Cup Day, one of the chain’s biggest sales days of the year.
The protest, which the union says involves more than 1,000 baristas in over 65 stores, comes after Workers United voted to authorize an open-ended strike after baristas and the coffee giant failed to reach a collective bargaining agreement.

The strike could hurt business during Starbucks’ busy holiday season, which typically provides a sales boost and will be key to the chain’s plan to turn around performance in the U.S. under new CEO Brian Niccol. Starbucks broke a nearly two-year streak of same-store sales declines in its most recently reported quarter. Past strikes have impacted less than 1% of its stores, the company said.
Starbucks said the work stoppage had limited effects on its key sales day as of late Thursday morning.
“The day is off to an incredible start – based on what we’ve seen this morning, we’re on track to exceed our sales expectations for the day across company-operated coffeehouses in North America,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told CNBC on Thursday.
The union is pushing for improved hours, higher wages and the resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges levied against Starbucks. The two parties have not been in active negotiations to reach a contract after talks between them fell apart late last year.
Starbucks and the union entered into mediation in February, and hundreds of barista delegates voted down the economic package Starbucks proposed in April. Both sides have pointed blame at the other for failure to reach a bargaining agreement, and say they’re ready to negotiate.

Workers United, which began organizing at Starbucks in 2021, says it now represents more than 12,000 workers across more than 550 stores. The company last week told CNBC that the union only represents 9,500 workers at 550 cafes.
The baristas say they are prepared to escalate the work stoppage, threatening to make this “the largest, longest strike in company history if Starbucks fails to deliver a fair union contract and resolve unfair labor practice charges.” It is seeking new proposals that address its top issues to finalize a contract.
“If Starbucks keeps stonewalling a fair contract and refusing to end union-busting, they’ll see their business grind to a halt,” Starbucks Workers United spokesperson Michelle Eisen, a former barista who spent 15 years at the company, said in a statement. “No contract, no coffee is more than a tagline — it’s a pledge to interrupt Starbucks operations and profits until a fair union contract and an end to unfair labor practices are won. Starbucks knows where we stand.”
In response to the strike vote results last week, Starbucks previously said it will be ready to serve customers across its nearly 18,000 company-operated and licensed stores this holiday season.
“Starbucks offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners. Workers United, which represents only 4% of our partners, chose to walk away from the bargaining table. We’ve asked them to return—many times. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk. We believe we can move quickly to a reasonable deal,” Anderson said in a statement Monday.
In a letter to workers addressing the strike authorization vote last week, Sara Kelly, chief partner officer at Starbucks, echoed the belief that the sides could reach an agreement swiftly.
“For months, we were at the bargaining table, working in good faith with Workers United and delegates from across the country to reach agreements that make sense for partners and for the long-term success of Starbucks,” Kelly said. “We reached more than 30 tentative agreements on full contract articles.”
“Our commitment to bargaining hasn’t changed,” she added. “Workers United walked away from the table but if they are ready to come back, we’re ready to talk. We believe we can move quickly to a reasonable deal.” More