Thousands of Starbucks workers at hundreds of stores will be on strike, as they protest the lack of their first contract despite a nearly two-years long organizing drive at the coffee chain.

But the union said the limited duration strike on a key promotion day for Starbucks is important in its efforts to win their first contract at the chain.

And it is a sign that even with more than 200,000 strikers leaving picket lines in the last month, that there are levels of union activism at America’s workplaces that haven’t been seen in decades.

The union, Starbucks Workers United, won its first representation vote at the company in December 2021, at a store in Buffalo, New York.

And the NLRB has so far rejected efforts to oust the union at some stores, citing the lack of progress on negotiating a new contract.

The union earlier this fall filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB over Starbucks’ refusal to bargain around promotion days.

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