A strike concerning wages and staffing issues has emerged during one of the coffee chain’s peak seasons.
A strike at Starbucks has now spread to over 300 locations across the United States, with the workers’ union reporting that more than 5,000 employees are anticipated to participate in the walkout.
The five-day strike is set to conclude later on Tuesday, coinciding with the Christmas holidays, a peak period for Starbucks operations.
Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees at 525 stores across the country, announced that over 60 locations in 12 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle, were closed on Monday.
Negotiations between Starbucks and the union have reached a standstill, with key issues regarding wages, staffing, and schedules still unresolved. This deadlock has resulted in the strike that commenced on Friday.
A union contract ensures that benefits, wages, and working conditions are documented and cannot be diminished without negotiation, as stated on the Workers United website.
According to the union, the Christmas Eve strike on Tuesday is expected to be the largest in the history of the coffee chain. “These strikes represent a preliminary demonstration of our strength, and we are only beginning,” stated a barista from Oregon in a union announcement.
Starbucks, operating over 10,000 company-run locations throughout the United States, reported that 98 percent of its stores were still open, with approximately 170 locations closed on Tuesday.
On Monday, the company announced that it anticipated a “very limited impact” on its overall operations.
The company stated, “We are ready to continue negotiations when the union comes back to the bargaining table.”
The firm based in Seattle asserted that the union delegates concluded the bargaining session ahead of schedule.
Earlier this month, the workers’ group turned down an offer that included no immediate wage increases and a promise of a 1.5 percent pay raise in the years to come.
The union has reported that Starbucks has not yet provided its workers with what they describe as “a serious economic proposal.”
