Starbucks workers plan to go on strike at more than 100 US stores

Starbucks workers at more than 100 US stores say they're going on strike Thursday in what would be the largest labour action since a campaign to unionize the company's stores began late last year.

The walkouts are scheduled to coincide with Starbucks' annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to customers who order a holiday drink.

Workers say it's often one of the busiest days of the year. Starbucks declined to say how many red cups it plans to distribute.

Workers say they're seeking better pay, more consistent schedules and higher staffing levels in busy stores. Starbucks opposes the unionization effort, saying the company functions best when it works directly with employees. The Seattle coffee giant has more than 9,000 company-owned stores in the US.

Stores in 25 states planned to take part in the labour action, according to Starbucks Workers United, the group organising the effort. Some workers planned to picket all day while others planned shorter walkouts. The union said the goal is to shut the stores down during the walkouts.

Willow Montana, a shift manager at a Starbucks store in Brighton, Massachusetts, planned to strike because Starbucks hasn't begun bargaining with the store despite a successful union vote in April.

If the company won't bargain in good faith, why should we come to work where we are understaffed, underpaid and overworked? Montana said.

Others, including Michelle Eisen, a union organiser at one of the first stores to organise in Buffalo, New York, said workers are angry that Starbucks promised higher pay and benefits to non-union stores. Starbucks says it is following the law and can't give union stores pay hikes without bargaining.

At least 257 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year, according to the National Labour Relations Board. Fifty-seven stores have held votes where workers opted not to unionize.

Starbucks and the union have begun contract talks at 53 stores, with 13 additional sessions scheduled, Starbucks Workers United said. No agreements have been reached so far.

The process has been contentious. Earlier this week, a regional director with the NLRB filed a request for an injunction against Starbucks in federal court, saying the company violated labour law when it fired a union organiser in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The regional director asked the court to direct Starbucks to reinstate the employee and stop interfering in the unionization campaign nationwide.

It was the fourth time the NLRB has asked a federal court to intervene. In August, a federal judge ruled that Starbucks had to reinstate seven union organisers who were fired in Memphis, Tennessee. A similar case in Buffalo has yet to be decided, while a federal judge ruled against the NLRB in a case in Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Starbucks has asked the NLRB to temporarily suspend all union elections at its US stores, citing allegations from a board employee that regional officials improperly coordinated with union organisers. A decision in that case is pending.