'Tis The Season To Strike: Now Starbucks Baristas Hit Picket Lines In Multi-State Labor Action

First Amazon, now Starbucks—'tis the season for strikes.

Thousands of baristas at unionized Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle are set to hit the picket lines on Friday after a failed bargaining session over a new labor contract between the union and the coffee chain giant.

"TWAS THE STRIKE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!" Starbucks Workers United (SWU) wrote on X, informing Starbucks customers that strikes will persist through Christmas Eve. 

SWU continued, "Starbucks baristas are going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on our promised path forward, starting tomorrow in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle... and soon, from coast-to-coast." 

🔥 TWAS THE STRIKE BEFORE CHRISTMAS! 🔥✊

Starbucks baristas are going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on our promised path forward, starting tomorrow in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle... and soon, from coast-to-coast. 🧵 pic.twitter.com/MXP07DJhEJ

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024

SWU provided additional color on how the failure to finalize a labor contract deal by the year of the year led to the five-day strike: 

Since February, Starbucks has repeatedly pledged publicly that they intended to reach contracts by the end of the year - but they’ve yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal.

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024

This week, less than two weeks before their end-of-year deadline, Starbucks proposed no immediate wage increase for union baristas, and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years. 👎

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024

Our unfair labor practice (ULP) strikes will begin Friday morning and escalate each day through Christmas Eve... unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work towards a foundational framework.

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) December 20, 2024

The union represents employees at more than 500 stores, a tiny fraction compared to the 10,000 company-operated locations nationwide. 

Meanwhile, Starbucks has faced a challenging year, with sales sliding for three consecutive quarters. Cash-strapped consumers have pulled back from high-priced drinks amid the inflation storm sparked by 'Bidenomics'.

In August, Starbucks tapped Chipotle CEO Brian Niccol to captain the sinking ship in a new turnaround strategy... 

Shares have been stuck in a rudderless motion for five years. 

'Tis the season to strike—apparently. The bad news: Many of these jobs are likely to be automated (read "AI Will Lead To 300 Million Layoffs In The US And Europe"): in the next decade.