Starbucks workers plan strikes that could spread to hundreds of stores [Video]

Workers at Starbucks stores plan to go on a five-day strike starting Friday to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations with the company.

The strikes are scheduled to begin in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and could spread to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.

Starbucks Workers United, the union that has organized workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores since 2021, said Starbucks has failed to honor a commitment made in February to reach a labor agreement this year. The union also wants the company to resolve outstanding legal issues, including hundreds of unfair labor practice charges that workers have filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union noted that Starbucks’ new Chairman and CEO Brian Niccol, who started in September, could make more than $100 millionin his first year on the job. But the company recently proposed an economic package with no new wage increases for unionized baristas now and a 1.5% …