More than 11,000 Starbucks baristas in the US have begun a five-day strike in a dispute over pay and working conditions.
The walk outs began on Friday at stores in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle, Starbucks Workers United said. The union added the strike action would spread each day and reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve unless a deal is reached.
It follows the union calling for the coffee shop giant to raise wages and staffing, as well as implement better schedules for its workers.
“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in response to the strike announcement.
The strike marks the biggest Workers United action since the organisation started trying to negotiate a contract with the company more than two years ago.
The union has been picking up members since the first store in the US voted to join in 2021. It now represents more than 500 shops across 45 US states.
“It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” said Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi, a Starbucks barista from Texas said in a statement sent to the BBC by the union.
Workers United has highlighted what it sees as an unfair pay disparity between its members and senior Starbucks bosses, including chief executive Brian Niccol.
His annual base pay is $1.6m. He could also get a performance-related bonus of as much as $7.2m and up to $23m a year of Starbucks shares.
Starbucks has previously defended the plan, saying that Mr Niccol was “one of the most effective leaders in our industry” and that his compensation was “tied directly to the company’s performance and the shared success of all our stakeholders”.
The company, which has more than 16,000 stores in the US, also highlighted that it offers average pay of over $18 (£14.40) an hour, as well as “best-in-class benefits.”
“Taken together they are worth an average of $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week,” it said.
The strike comes at a tricky moment for the company.
The world’s biggest coffee shop chain has seen flagging sales as it grappled with a backlash to price increases and boycotts sparked by the Israel-Gaza war.
It replaced former boss Laxman Narasimhan in August, naming Mr Niccol to lead a turnaround.
Under Mr Narasimham, the company had softened its once combative approach to the union, pledging earlier this year to work toward a deal.
The strike at Starbucks comes as one of the most powerful labour unions in the US is staging a protest against Amazon, aiming to put pressure on the technology giant as it rushes out packages in the final run-up to Christmas.
The Teamsters union said Amazon delivery drivers at seven facilities in the US had walked off the job on Thursday, after the company refused to negotiate with the union about a labour contract.
