Overview
- More than 1,000 unionized employees walked off at locations in roughly 45 U.S. cities to maximize pressure on a peak sales day.
- Starbucks Workers United says bargaining has been stalled since April and organizers say additional stores could join if no agreement is reached.
- Specific grievances include understaffing, schedules kept under 20 hours that affect benefits eligibility, and pay reported as low as $16 an hour by a Pittsburgh barista.
- Starbucks says the vast majority of its roughly 17,000 U.S. locations remained open, defends its compensation and benefits, and contends the union walked away from talks.
- About 550 company-owned stores are unionized, the union says it represents nearly 12,000 workers across roughly 528 shops, and the company closed 59 unionized stores in September during a reorganization.