A walkout by baristas at Starbucks expanded on Tuesday, as more workers joined at five-day labor action against the coffee giant in a protest that comes to a close later in the day.
The Seattle-based company and Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents employees at 525 stores across the country, provided opposing estimates of the number of locations affected.
According to Starbucks Workers United, more than 5,000 baristas walked out on Tuesday, closing more than 300 stores in 43 states.
Starbucks, on the other hand, stated that approximately 170 Starbucks locations did not open as planned on Tuesday, December 24. With over 10,000 company-operated stores, 98% of Starbucks locations remained open, staffed by nearly 200,000 workers who are “continuing to serve customers during the holidays,” Starbucks said in an emailed statement to CBS MoneyWatch on Tuesday.
“Half the baristas in my store drive 30 minutes one-way because they can’t afford to live closer to work,” said Lauren Hollingsworth, a barista from Ashland, Oregon, in a union release. “These strikes are an initial show of strength,” the woman said.
Workers walked off the job at all three Starbucks locations in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as well as the flagship roasteries in New York City and Seattle, with a 24-hour picket line at the Seattle Roastery, according to the union.
The walkouts began on Friday, coinciding with the holiday shopping season, and expanded to include more stores in additional cities over the weekend, with employees protesting a lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company.
Workers from 60-plus stores walked out on Monday in 12 major cities, with the Christmas Eve strike being the largest yet, according to the union.
According to the labor group, baristas went on strike Tuesday in 43 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
