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Starbucks and Workers United said they made “significant progress” in this week’s contract talks.
The two-day session marked the first time in nearly a year that Starbucks and Workers United came to the bargaining table.
Starbucks and the union plan to meet again in late May to keep working on the framework that will inform every single-store contract.

A Starbucks worker boards the Starbucks union bus after Starbucks workers stood on the picket line with striking SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America (WGA) members in solidarity outside Netflix studios on July 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. 
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Starbucks and Workers United, representing roughly 400 of its cafes, said Friday in a joint release that they made “significant progress” in their contract talks this week.
The two parties discussed a process to resolve grievances, details related to the union’s representation of Starbucks baristas, and other topics on Wednesday and Thursday in Atlanta, according to the press release.

The two-day session marked the first time in nearly a year that Starbucks and Workers United came to the bargaining table. It followed a February announcement that the two sides were ending their bitter stalemate.
The coffee giant spent more than two years battling the union, which is an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU. Workers United has broadly pushed for higher wages and more consistent scheduling, among a range of other priorities.
This week’s talks are the closest that any of the unionized locations, which make up a small fraction of Starbucks’ total U.S. footprint, have come to a collective bargaining agreement.
Yet, there’s still a long road ahead.
“There’s more to do, but we are committed to working together,” both sides said in a joint statement.

Starbucks and the union plan to meet again in late May to keep working on the framework that will inform every single-store contract, according to the release. Individual stores will still have to negotiate and ratify their contracts once that foundation has been built.
Labor laws do not require that the employer and union reach a collective bargaining agreement, only that both bargain in good faith. After a year, workers who lose faith in the union can petition to decertify, putting a ticking clock on negotiations. 
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Starbucks and Workers United represent about 400 cafes. An earlier version misstated the number.

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The Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s treatment for a rare genetic bleeding disorder, making it the company’s first gene therapy to win clearance in the U.S. 
The agency greenlighted the drug, which will be marketed as Beqvez, for adults with moderate to severe hemophilia B. 
Pfizer said the treatment will be available by prescription to eligible patients this quarter and has a hefty $3.5 million price tag before insurance and other rebates.

Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced that the agency approved Pfizer’s treatment for a rare genetic bleeding disorder, making it the company’s first gene therapy to win clearance in the U.S. 
The agency greenlighted the drug, which will be marketed as Beqvez, for adults with moderate to severe hemophilia B who meet certain requirements.

The treatment will be available by prescription to eligible patients this quarter, a Pfizer spokesperson told CNBC. It has a hefty $3.5 million price tag before insurance and other rebates, the spokesperson added, making it by far one of the most expensive drugs in the U.S.
More than 7,000 people in the U.S. are living with the debilitating condition, which predominantly affects men, according to an advocacy group. The condition is caused by insufficient levels of a certain protein that helps blood clot to stop bleeding and seal wounds. Without that protein, called factor IX, patients with hemophilia B bruise easily and bleed more frequently and for longer periods of time. 
Beqvez is a one-time treatment designed to enable patients to produce factor IX themselves and prevent and control bleeding. In a late-stage trial, the drug was superior to the often-cumbersome standard treatment for hemophilia B, which involves administering the protein multiple times a week or a month through the veins. 
“Many people with hemophilia B struggle with the commitment and lifestyle disruption of regular [factor IX] infusions, as well as spontaneous bleeding episodes, which can lead to painful joint damage and mobility issues,” said Adam Cuker, director of Penn Medicine’s Comprehensive and Hemophilia Thrombosis Program, in a Pfizer release on Friday.
Pfizer’s drug “has the potential to be transformative for appropriate patients by reducing both the medical and treatment burden over the long term,” Cuker added. 

The approval is a big step for Pfizer, which is trying to regain its footing following the rapid decline of its Covid business last year. The company is betting big on cancer drugs and treatments for other disease areas to help turn its business around. 
Pfizer is one of several companies to invest in the rapidly growing field of gene and cell therapies — one-time, high-cost treatments that target a patient’s genetic source or cell to cure or significantly alter the course of a disease. Some health experts expect these therapies to replace traditional lifelong treatments that people take to manage chronic diseases. 
Pfizer gained the rights to produce and market Beqvez from Spark Therapeutics in 2014. 
The company is offering payers a warranty program to cover patients who receive Beqvez, a spokesperson told CNBC. Pfizer expects that program to offer “financial protection by insuring against the risk of efficacy failure,” the release said.
The gene therapy will compete with Australia-based CSL Behring’s Hemgenix, a similar treatment that won FDA approval for hemophilia B in 2022. That drug has a similar list price of $3.5 million in the U.S. before insurance and other rebates. 
Notably, some health experts have said that high costs and logistical issues, among other factors, have limited the uptake of Hemgenix and another approved gene therapy for the more common hemophilia A. 
Pfizer also seeks FDA approval for its experimental antibody, marstacimab, to treat hemophilia A and B. The company is also developing a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes muscles to weaken gradually. 

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Skydance Media and its private equity backers are targeting May to finalize terms on a deal with Paramount Global, sources told CNBC.
The biggest hurdle remaining to complete a deal is Paramount Global’s outstanding carriage renewal with Charter Communications.
Skydance’s plan would name David Ellison as CEO of Paramount Global and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, sources said.

Paramount Global and Skydance Media are making progress on a deal that would merge the media companies and buy out controlling shareholder Shari Redstone, according to people familiar with the matter.
Paramount Global’s special committee, in charge of accepting or rejecting transactions, and David Ellison’s Skydance Media, backed by private equity firms KKR and RedBird Capital Partners, are narrowing in on how to value Skydance’s assets as part of a merger, as well as how much equity to add to the company as part of a recapitalization, the people told CNBC.

The sides are close to agreeing on a value for Skydance, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. The entertainment company would be valued at around $5 billion and merged with Paramount Global, they said. Skydance CEO Ellison and the private equity firms plan to raise roughly $4.5 billion to $5 billion in new equity, the people said; some of that — about $2 billion — would be used to pay Redstone, and another substantial portion would be used to pay down debt.
The buyers would ideally like to get a deal done in May, said the people. Three of the people said that Paramount Global was slow to provide data during due diligence to the Skydance consortium, which has slightly pushed back the timeline on a deal. The exclusivity window on merger talks ends May 3, but the Skydance consortium wants to extend it by two weeks, said the people.
Skydance plans to name Ellison as CEO of Paramount Global and former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell as president, said two of the people. Current Paramount CEO Bob Bakish would depart the company, the people said.
Separately, private equity firm Apollo Global Management and Sony have held preliminary discussions about teaming up for a deal that would buy out all Paramount Global shareholders at a premium, according to people familiar with the matter. The special committee hasn’t received concrete details on that offer and isn’t viewing it as a competitive bid to Skydance’s interest, two of the people said.
Still, the committee had more details on an initial offer made by Apollo, which it chose to ignore in favor of exclusive talks with Skydance, one of the people said. The special committee favored Skydance’s offer over Apollo’s in part because it offered shareholders future upside by keeping the company public with a cleaner balance sheet, the person said.

Spokespeople for Apollo, the Paramount Global special committee, Paramount Global, and Skydance’s consortium declined to comment.

Last big hurdle

One significant hurdle that remains is Paramount Global’s renewal agreement with Charter Communications for CBS and its cable networks. That deal is relevant to the value of Paramount Global, which could take a hit if Charter drops the networks or agrees to a lower carriage rate, the people said.
The deadline for that agreement is April 30. Paramount Global reports first-quarter earnings one day earlier, on April 29.
Paramount Global is still dependent on its traditional TV business, which accounts for about two-thirds of the company’s total revenue.
There are signs Charter could prove to be a tough negotiator with Paramount Global: Last year the cable provider, the second-largest in the U.S., briefly stopped carrying Disney’s networks when renewal negotiations between those two companies faltered. The parties reached a deal 10 days later.
Paramount’s cable networks are far less popular than Disney’s ESPN, which may put Bakish in a position of weakness.
The timing of the renewal and the deal talks set up an awkward dynamic, where Bakish, who would ultimately leave the company under a Skydance merger, will control Paramount Global’s fate with Charter.
Thus far, Bakish has always reached renewal deals with the major pay-TV distributors since taking over as CEO, dating back to his time running Viacom, beginning in 2016.
Bakish has privately argued against the Skydance deal because it dilutes common shareholders, according to people familiar with the matter. Several Paramount Global investors have also publicly written letters to the company’s board urging directors not to move forward with a Skydance deal, arguing it gives Redstone a massive premium for her controlling shares while leaving common shareholders out in the cold.
Under the terms of the deal, nearly 50% of the company would be owned by Skydance and its private equity partners, CNBC reported April 5. The rest of the company would be owned by common shareholders, and the company would continue to trade publicly.
“At Paramount, we’re always looking for ways to create shareholder value. And to be clear, that’s for all shareholders,” Bakish said during his company’s most recent earnings call, in February.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. More

Southwest is weighing changes to boarding and seating.
The carrier stands out from other large airlines with its open seating plan.
Meanwhile rivals like Delta and United have touted high revenue growth for premium seating.

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-700 aircraft lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on May 7, 2023.
Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images

Southwest Airlines is considering changes to its single-class, open-seating cabins to drive up revenue, CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC on Thursday, a shift that would be among the largest in the airline’s history.
“We’re looking into new initiatives, things like the way we seat and board our aircraft,” Jordan said in an interview after the carrier’s disappointing first-quarter report.

Southwest’s all-Boeing 737 fleet has a single economy class cabin and no seating assignments, though it does offer earlier boarding for a fee so customers can snag their preferred seats. The airline has focused on keeping its product simple and user-friendly for years, aiming to keep its own costs and complexity to a minimum.
Meanwhile, rivals including Delta and United have touted high revenue growth for premium seating such as business class and strong upsell rates.

Analysts have repeatedly asked Southwest about opportunities for premium seating or additional fees. (The airline doesn’t charge travelers for their first two checked bags.)
Most U.S. airlines charge travelers to choose many of its seats in advance, even those that don’t come with extra legroom. Eight U.S. carriers — Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit and United — together brought in $4.2 billion from seating fees in their domestic networks in 2022, according to Jay Sorensen, an airline ancillary revenue expert at IdeaWorksCompany.
Jordan said no decisions have been made on what kind of changes Southwest will ultimately make, but he said studies have yielded “interesting” results.

“Customer preferences do change over time,” Jordan said.
While details were scarce during Southwest’s earnings call, when asked whether Southwest would consider a separated cabin on its planes, Ryan Green, the carrier’s chief commercial officer said: “Curtains and things like that are a bit far afield from what Southwest Airlines is.”
Green added that the carrier is not considering charging for checked bags because “people choose Southwest Airlines because we don’t have bag fees.”
— CNBC’s Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.

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Pickleball, America’s fastest-growing sport, is looking to India to continue its growth.
The United Pickleball Association announced events starting in 2025 in India.
Major League Pickleball will also begin selling franchises in India.

A pickleball paddle and balls at the pickleball courts in Tropical Park on March 23, 2023, in Miami. (Jose A. Iglesias/El Nuevo Herald/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Jose A. Iglesias | El Nuevo Herald | Getty Images

America’s fastest-growing sport, pickleball, is going after a new frontier: India.
The United Pickleball Association and Global Sports announced a deal on Thursday to bring the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball to the world’s most populous country.

It’s the first international deal and major announcement for the United Pickleball Association, which was created after a merger between Major League Pickleball and the Professional Pickleball Association last February.
The PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball retained their own distinct brands after the merger. The PPA Tour features an individual bracket-style tour, while MLP is a team-based format.
Terms of the deal were not available.
“The PPA Tour India and MLP India will create a pathway for players to compete on pickleball’s biggest stage and reach the top of the sport. With the partnership of Global Sports, we will elevate the game and introduce it to millions of new fans,” said Connor Pardoe, founder and CEO of the PPA Tour.
As part of the partnership, the PPA Tour will make an official tour stop in India next February. The Indian Open event will be the debut PPA Tour event in Asia and is expected to bring players from all over the world to participate.

The deal will also launch PPA Tour India, offering ranking points to players at events around the country.
Major League Pickleball, the team-based league, will hold a competition in India featuring a mix of players from India, as well as MLP and PPA Tour professionals.
United Pickleball Association said the group also plans to hold an open process to sell MLP franchises, with the goal of launching a full 12-team season in 2025-26.
Franchises are expected to cost in the seven-figure range, according to sources.
In September, Major League Pickleball announced its expansion into Australia.
The APP Tour, which represents both amateurs and seniors, has also been active in bringing the sport overseas to India, the United Kingdom, Spain and Sweden.
Global Sports, which was at the forefront of bringing pickleball to India, operates courts and organizes tournaments in India.
“Pickleball in India has grown by leaps in the last couple of years, and this will give existing players a platform to compete at the highest level,” said Shashank Khaitan, partner at Global Sports.

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Honda Motor and yet-to-be-named joint venture partners plan to invest $11 billion in Ontario, Canada to create a “comprehensive EV value chain,” the Japanese automaker announced Thursday.
The company said the plans include new assembly and battery plants as well as other facilities to support production of the all-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles.
Many automakers have announced pullbacks in their all-electric vehicle plans amid slower-than-expected adoption of EVs.

A brand-new Honda Pilot is displayed on the sales lot at Honda Marin in San Rafael, California, on Feb. 6, 2024.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

DEROIT — Honda Motor and yet-to-be-named joint venture partners plan to invest $11 billion in Ontario, Canada, to create a “comprehensive EV value chain,” the Japanese automaker announced Thursday.
The company said the new North American electric vehicle epicenter will include new assembly and battery plants as well as other facilities to support production of all-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles.

Honda said vehicle production will begin in 2028, with annual vehicle capacity of 240,000 units once it is fully operational. The investment in Alliston, Ontario, is expected to greatly assist in Honda’s goal of exclusively offering all-electric and fuel cell-powered vehicles by 2040.
The timing of the investment may seem odd to industry onlookers and investors, as many automakers have announced pullbacks in their all-electric vehicle plans amid slower-than-expected adoption of EVs.
Honda said the investment is “for a future increase in EV demand in North America,” with the battery plant capable of producing 36 gigawatt hours, or GWh, per year.
The project is expected to create as least 1,000 new jobs, adding to the 4,200 employees the company currently has at its two existing manufacturing facilities in Ontario.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau said during a livestreamed press conference on Thursday that Honda’s investment, 15 billion Canadian dollars, is the largest ever for the country’s automotive industry. The company is expected to receive upward of CA$2.5 billion in assistance in tax credits and other incentives from the Canadian government, officials said.

The investment is a major win for Canada and comes after Honda last year confirmed a $4.4 billion investment for a new U.S. battery plant in Ohio.
“In North America, following the initiative to establish our EV production system capability in the U.S., we will now begin formal discussions toward the establishment of a comprehensive EV value chain here in Canada, with the support of the governments of Canada and Ontario,” Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said in a release. “We will strengthen our EV supply system and capability with an eye toward a future increase in EV demand in North America.”
Honda said it has “begun the process of evaluating the scope of its investment and completing negotiations with its joint venture partners.” Its partner in the U.S. facility is LG Energy Solution.
The company said it expects to finalize the plans over the next six months.

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