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The workers’ union representing more than 10,000 Starbucks baristas said that union members will go on strike in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle on Friday morning.
Workers United, which has a bargaining delegation that represents workers at 525 Starbucks stores in the United States, said walkouts are expected to spread each day and reach hundreds of stores from coast to coast by Christmas Eve unless Starbucks (SBUX) and the union reach a collective bargaining agreement.
The union and Starbucks created a “framework” in February to guide organizing and collective bargaining. Negotiations between the company and Workers United began in April, based on the framework, that could also help resolve numerous pending legal disputes.
“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.
Starbucks said the union “prematurely” ended a bargaining session this week.
“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.”
