Starbucks union says 30 more US stores are joining week-old strike

Article by JANE DOE, Staff Writer

Starbucks is facing an expansion of its ongoing strike as the Starbucks Workers United union announced that baristas from an additional 30 stores in 25 U.S. cities will be joining the strike on Thursday. This includes stores in Cleveland, Memphis, Springfield, and Albany. The total number of stores with striking workers has now reached 95 in 65 cities.

The strike commenced last Thursday on Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, a traditionally busy day for the company where free reusable cups are given out to customers who purchase a holiday drink. Despite the strike, Starbucks reported minimal disruption to its operations, with this year’s Red Cup Day being the most successful in terms of sales and store traffic.

According to Placer.ai, Starbucks saw a 44.5% increase in foot traffic compared to the daily average on the day of the strike. Starbucks stated that only 49 of the 65 stores targeted by the union experienced any disruption, with 29 of them already reopened.

Out of Starbucks’ 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, around 550 are unionized. Additionally, Starbucks has 7,000 licensed locations in places like airports.

Workers are striking due to a lack of progress in labor negotiations, aiming for better pay, improved staffing, and resolution of unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks. The union has not set an end date for the strike and more stores are prepared to join if an agreement is not reached.

Starbucks expressed willingness to resume negotiations when the union is ready to return to the bargaining table. Previous negotiations between the two parties concluded in April.