Starbucks strike hits more than 300 US stores: Union | Labor Rights News

The strikes over pay and staffing come at one of the coffee chain’s busiest times of the year.

The Starbucks strike has affected more than 300 of the coffee chain’s U.S. stores and more than 5,000 workers are expected to be out of a job, the workers’ union said.

The a five-day holiday It comes in the middle of the Christmas holidays, which will end on Tuesday and is one of the busiest times of the year for Starbucks.

Starbucks Workers UnitedThe company, which represents workers at 525 stores nationwide, said more than 60 U.S. stores in 12 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston and Seattle, were closing on Monday.

Negotiations between Starbucks and the union have been deadlocked with unresolved issues over wages, staffing and scheduling, leading to a strike that began Friday.

According to the Union’s website, benefits, wages and working conditions enhanced by a union contract can be in writing and cannot be reduced without bargaining.

Tuesday’s Christmas Eve strike was predicted to be the coffee chain’s biggest ever, the union added. “These strikes are an initial show of force, and we’re just getting started,” the Oregon barista union said in a statement.

The union claimed more than 290 stores were “totally closed” as a result of the strike.

Starbucks, which operates more than 10,000 company-operated stores in the United States, said 98 percent of its stores remained open and only about 170 were closed on Tuesday.

On Monday, the company said it expects a “very limited impact” on overall operations.

“When the union returns to the bargaining table, we are ready to resume negotiations,” the company said.

The Seattle-headquartered firm previously claimed union representatives ended the bargaining session early.

Earlier this month, the task force rejected a proposal for an immediate wage increase and a guarantee of 1.5 percent wage increases in future years.

The union also said Starbucks has yet to present a “serious economic offer” to its workers.