Starbucks union strike expands to 9 states

The strike protests a lack of contract negotiations, including wage increases for union baristas.

The five-day strike against Starbucks reached nine states on Sunday, according to its union. The Starbucks Workers United said union workers in Missouri, New Jersey and New York began their strike Sunday after locations in Colorado, Ohio and Pennsylvania joined the strike Saturday. Workers United represents more than 10,000 workers at over 525 stores. A Starbucks Workers United spokesperson told CNN 30 stores nationwide were closed completely but it’s too early to know the total numbers for Sunday. The union has said the strike could reach “hundreds of stores” by Tuesday, a small portion of Starbucks’ more than 10,000 company-operated stores with more than 200,000 employees. The strike is on its third day after walkouts on Friday in Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered and opened its first location. Starbucks Workers United is seeking wage increases for baristas in an economic proposal ahead of their end-of-year deadline. The union said it had a framework in place with Starbucks management since February to reach its first labor agreement and resolve outstanding legal complaints. Starbucks said in a statement Thursday the union prematurely ended bargaining sessions this week after it held more than nine sessions and bargained over 20 days since April.