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A union representing more than 11,000 Starbucks baristas in the United States says its members will go on a five-day strike starting Friday morning in a dispute over wages and working conditions.
Workers United says strikes will occur in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle, and that strikes will spread each day and reach hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve unless a deal is reached.
It follows the union calling on the coffee shop giant to increase wages and staffing, as well as implement better schedules for its workers.
“We are willing to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need to get the union back to the table,” a Starbucks spokesperson said in response to the strike announcement.
The company also highlighted that it offers an average salary of more than $18 (£14.40) an hour, as well as “best-in-class benefits.”
“Collectively, they are worth an average of $30 per hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week,” he said.
Workers United says it represents workers at more than 500 stores in 45 U.S. states.
“It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us no choice,” 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 Starbucks’ top bosses. including CEO Brian Niccol.
His annual base salary is $1.6 million. He could also earn a performance-related bonus of up to $7.2 million and up to $23 million a year in Starbucks stock.
Starbucks previously defended the plan, saying Niccol was “one of the most effective leaders in our industry” and that his compensation was “directly tied to the company’s performance and the shared success of all of our stakeholders.”
Niccol joined the company in September after his predecessor, Laxman Narasimhan, resigned less than two years in office.
The largest coffee chain in the world has seen its sales decline while dealing with a backlash to price increases and boycotts sparked by the Israel-Gaza war.
The Starbucks strike comes as One of the most powerful unions in the US organizes a protest against Amazonaiming to put pressure on the tech giant as it races to roll out packages in the 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 over a labor contract.
