Starbucks workers to start US strike on Friday: union [Video]

Workers at Starbucks will walk off the job Friday in three US cities in a strike their union threatened could spread around the country in the busy run-up to Christmas.

The announcement, which will initially affect stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and the firm’s home city of Seattle, comes as online giant Amazon was also hit by a walkout in the crucial final shopping days of the festive period.

Starbucks Workers United, which says it represents baristas at hundreds of outlets around the country, said its action was aimed at forcing the company to improve pay and conditions after months of negotiations that it said have gone nowhere.

“Nobody wants to strike. It’s a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice,” a union press release quoted Texas barista Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi as saying.

The strike, which the union says will …