With less than a week to go for Christmas, hundreds of Starbucks baristas have announced to go on strike in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle on Friday over unfair labor practices and stalled negotiations with the company, Workers United, the workers union representing 525 Starbucks outlets across the country, said in a statement.
The announcement comes close on the heels of thousands of Amazon workers staging a walkout after the Jeff Bezos-owned company refused to start contract negotiations with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters - a labor union.
Workers United declared that the five-day strike will begin on Friday and run through Dec. 24 in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle — three of Starbucks' top markets. This falls on the busiest days of the year for the business, ABC reported.
Starbucks and the union entered a "framework" in February to help them work hand-in-hand to negotiate better working conditions. They started acting upon this plan in April, CNN reported.
"Since the February commitment, the company repeatedly pledged publicly that it intended to reach contracts by the end of the year, but it has yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal," the union said in a statement late on Thursday.
While the "framework" was expected to also resolve the ongoing legal disputes, Starbucks said the union stepped out of the agreement earlier.
"It is disappointing they didn't return to the table given the progress we've made to date," the company said in a statement. "We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table."
The union proposed Starbucks increase wages up to $18 per hour and benefits, including health care, free college tuition, paid family leave, and company stock grants, as well as improve working conditions across the outlets.
Workers United claims that despite Starbucks' public pledge to achieve deals before the end of the year, the company has not made a significant economic offer to its employees.
However, CNN reported that Starbucks fell short of its promise due to sales dipping to an unprecedented low.
Starbucks' newly appointed CEO, Brian Niccol, said in an open letter to its employees and customers that he wants to return Starbucks to its roots as a "community coffeehouse" with added amenities and separation between "to-go" and "for-here" sections.
