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By Anuja Bharat Mistry
Dec 11 (Reuters) – Hundreds of Starbucks’ baristas walked off the job in 34 U.S. cities on Thursday, escalating a month-long strike as their union tries to push the coffee chain towards its first-ever labor contract.
The union said more than 3,800 baristas have joined the nationwide strike that has spread to over 180 stores across 130 cities, marking the longest work stoppage in the coffee chain’s history.
The company, however, said there was no meaningful disruption to its business anywhere in the world, adding that it would return to the bargaining table as soon as the union was ready.
“Fewer than 1% of our 17,000 U.S. coffeehouses have been affected at any point by the union’s efforts,” said Jaci Anderson, Starbucks director of global communications.
Starbucks Workers United, representing 11,000 baristas at more than 550 active stores in the U.S., is demanding improved staffing levels, more predictable schedules and better pay, saying current conditions leave baristas overworked and underpaid.
The union has staged intermittent strikes since 2022, but the latest action is its most extensive effort to push the company toward a first labor contract.
The protest began on November 13 during the company’s Red Cup Day, a key holiday promotion, with 65 stores in more than 40 cities and has since escalated as hundreds of newly unionized workers joined in.
The company said it had invested over $500 million to improve staffing and add more partners in stores during busy times.
The stalemate between the union and the coffee giant comes after contract talks stalled in February following the rejection of Starbucks’ proposed package in April that guaranteed annual raises of at least 2%.
About 560 stores have voted for union representation since the first election four years ago, but workers still lack a labor contract to secure better wages and benefits.
(Reporting by Anuja Bharat Mistry and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D’Silva)
