Starbucks Strike Expands to 300+ Stores on Christmas Eve, Affecting Thousands.

The strike led by Workers United increased rapidly; its effects were registered at more than 300 shops and 5,000 workers across the United States. Beginning on Friday, this mobilization will end several hours before Christmas Eve. Employees are calling for an improvement in wages, staffing, and working hours making the strike one of Starbucks’s most massive labor movements.

Major Cities Witness Store Closures

By Monday, Workers United sourced more than 60 store closures in New York, Los York Angeles Boston, and Seattle. These closures are part of broad changes that are taking effect in 12 large cities across the country. However, Starbucks has tried to downplay the effects of what it termed as ‘strike action’ insisting that the majority of its outlets are still functioning.

Starbucks workers’ union chapters have not been getting along well with Starbucks: the negotiations are ongoing, stuck on the issues of change in wage policies and changes to the scheduling system. Earlier this month, the union dismissed an offer from Starbucks proposing that workers should get a raise of 1.5% in future years only.

Largest Turnout in Starbucks History

The union expects the last day of the strike to have probably the highest turnout of employees the company has ever witnessed. This demonstration provides evidence of increased concerns by employees over wages and other conditions of work especially at throws of holidays.

Seattle-based Starbucks reiterated its desire to keep the talks going. But it labelled the union as walking out when negotiations were still on. Currently, the company has stores in more than 10,000 locations in the United States, and according to the management of the company, the strike will have minor effects on the total performance.

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