About 170 Starbucks coffee shops in the US closed due to employee strikes

At least 170 Starbucks coffee shops in the U.S. have closed nationwide due to employee strikes. This was reported by USA Today on December 24.

According to Starbucks Workers United, the five-day strike began Friday and initially covered Starbucks locations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle before spreading to coffee shops in New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Denver, Pittsburgh and Columbus.

"The strike before Christmas" began after Starbucks and union representatives failed to reach an agreement, and the company ended up giving workers a package that did not meet its wage and working conditions requirements.

The union said Tuesday morning that more than 5,000 workers would walk out of 300 locations in 45 states. However, Starbucks said Tuesday afternoon that only 170 stores "did not open as planned."

Starbucks spokesman Phil Gee said the "few disruptions" would not affect the company's operations.

Earlier on Sept. 23, workers at Boeing plants went on strike and demanded a 40% wage increase over three years. Management offered a 30% increase over four years and a doubling of bonuses, but they failed to reach an agreement with the union.

Later, on October 12, the aircraft maker said it would cut its workforce by 10%. Boeing representatives said that the corporation is now experiencing certain financial difficulties against the background of strikes, which negatively affects the speed of production. According to them, delays are occurring in the production of 777X and 767 Freighter airplanes.

On November 1, the company offered striking workers a 38% wage increase over four years.