Visitors to dozens of Starbucks stores across more than 40 cities may be greeted with picket lines today as Starbucks baristas go on strike.

And it’s a strike that couldn’t come at a worse time for Starbucks, as today is the company’s annual Red Cup Day, which kicks off the Seattle coffee giant’s holiday sales season. Here’s what to know:

Today, unionized Starbucks baristas went on strike at more than 65 Starbucks locations across 42 cities.

The baristas are members of the Starbucks Workers Union (SBWU), a collective that says it includes over 12,000 Starbucks workers across 550 unionized stores. The union says it has been in stalled negotiations with Starbucks over three primary issues.

Those issues include better working hours to improve staffing in Starbucks stores, higher take-home pay, and a resolution to hundreds of unfair labor practice charges for union busting.

The stalled negotiations are the main driver for the union’s strike actions kicking off today. Both Starbucks and the Starbucks Workers Union blame each other for the stalled negotiations. 

It should also be noted that Starbucks disputes SBWU’s claim that the union represents 12,000 members. Starbucks says the union represents “approximately 9,500 partners in 550 coffeehouses.”

The strike........

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