Some members of the workers' union representing more than 10,000 baristas at Starbucks began a five-day strike at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle starting Friday, citing unresolved issues over wages, staffing and schedules.
This is the latest in a string of labor actions that have stepped up in pace across service sectors, after a period when employees working in the automotive, aerospace and rail industries' manufacturing outfits garnered considerable concessions from management.
At Starbucks, the Workers United union, which represents employees at 525 stores across the U.S., said late on Thursday that walkouts would escalate daily, and could reach "hundreds of stores" nationwide by Christmas Eve.
"It's estimated that 10 stores out of 10,000 company-operated stores did not open today," Starbucks said, adding that there was no significant impact to store operations on Friday.
About 20 people stood on a picket line outside a Starbucks store on Chicago's north side, battered by snow and wind, but cheering at the honking horns of passing cars.
A few dazed customers attempted to enter the closed store before strikers began chanting, but union member Shep Searl said the reaction had been mostly positive.
Searl said 100% of the unionized workers at the Starbucks location in Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood were participating in the strike, and according to the workers, they have been subject to numerous unfair labor practices including write-ups, "captive-audience" meetings and firings.
The union member said they made about $21 an hour and added, "that would have been a great wage in 2013".
It is an inadequate wage, the baristas said, given inflation and the high cost of living in a large city, especially since they rarely get 40-hour work weeks.
"We're planning to escalate if we need to," they said.
Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on an established framework agreed upon in February, which could also help resolve numerous pending legal disputes.
The company said on Thursday it has held more than nine bargaining sessions with the union since April, and reached more than 30 agreements on "hundreds of topics", including economic issues.
The Seattle-headquartered firm said it is ready to continue negotiations, claiming the union delegates prematurely ended the bargaining session this week.
But on its Facebook page on Friday, the union said Starbucks has failed to submit a real economic offer ahead of less than two weeks remaining until the year-end deadline of the contract.
It added that the group was also rejecting an offer which includes no immediate increase and a promise of a 1.5% wage hike in succeeding years.
"Workers United proposals call for an immediate increase in the minimum wage of hourly partners by 64%, and by 77% over the life of a three-year contract. This is not sustainable," Starbucks said on Friday.
Hundreds of complaints have been filed with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Starbucks of unlawful labor practices such as firing union supporters and closing stores during labor campaigns. Starbucks has denied wrongdoing and said it respects the right of workers to choose whether to unionize.
Last month, the NLRB said that Starbucks broke the law by telling workers at its flagship Seattle cafe that they would lose benefits if they joined a union.
"It's (the strike) taking place during one of the busiest times of the year for Starbucks, which could magnify its impact while bringing unwanted public scrutiny into the company's labor practices," Emarketer analyst Rachel Wolff said.
The coffee chain is being transformed under its newly named top boss, Brian Niccol, who wants to reinstate "coffee house culture" by remodeling cafes and streamlining its menu among other steps.
"Starbucks can't afford anything that's going to hurt it at the moment. Given how much Starbucks is already struggling to win customers over, any negative publicity-or impact to sales-that the strike could bring will be the last thing Starbucks needs," Wolff said.
The union called on people to go to the picket lines in the three cities as of about 1800 GMT in a post on X.
A walkout at Starbucks happened during the same week its rivals at Amazon.com see seven U.S. facilities join in going on strike during the holiday shopping season Thursday.
There were 33 work stoppages in 2023, the most since 2000, though far lower than in past decades, data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed.
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