Starbucks Workers United, the company’s largest workers’ union, announced strikes in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle on Friday, just days before Christmas.  The union stated that the strikes were intended to protest Starbucks' alleged unfair labor practices, unresolved cases, and insufficient wage negotiations. "Starbucks baristas are going on five days of escalating ULP strikes in response to the company backtracking on our promised path forward," the union said in a statement.  Currently, about 500 of Starbucks' 11,161 self-operated North American stores are unionized, representing 4.5% of locations.  The union claims its efforts to negotiate contracts have been met with delays and insufficient proposals, despite Starbucks’ public promises to finalize agreements this year. In response, Starbucks stated that union representatives “prematurely ended” recent bargaining sessions and expressed disappointment over the lack of progress.  “We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements,” the company said, urging the union to return to the table. The union, representing over 10,000 baristas, recently revealed that 98% of its members had voted to authorize the strike.  In a social media post, the union accused Starbucks of failing to present a “serious economic proposal.” The strikes come just after Starbucks announced an updated parental leave policy for US store employees.  Starting in March, birth parents will receive up to 18 weeks of paid leave, and non-birth parents will get 12 weeks, compared to the current six weeks of paid leave

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