Workers start strikes at Starbucks stores in the middle of the holidays to protest the lack of progress in labor contract negotiations.

The strikes are scheduled to begin this Friday in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle and may roll out to hundreds of stores across the country by Christmas Eve.

“We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to get back to the table,” Starbucks said in a statement.

Starbucks Workers United, the union representing workers at 535 company-owned U.S. stores as of 2021, said Starbucks has not kept a commitment it made last February regarding labor contracts. The union also wants the company to resolve outstanding legal issues, including hundreds of unfair labor practice charges filed by workers with the National Labor Relations Board.

The union noted that new Starbucks President and CEO Brian Niccol, who took over last September, could earn more than $100 million in his first year on the job. But the company recently proposed an economic package with no new pay raises for unionized baristas now and a 1.5 percent increase in future years, the union said.

Starbucks, for its part, said it already offers pay and benefits — including free college tuition and paid family leave — worth $30 an hour to baristas who work at least 20 hours a week.

The strikes aren’t the first during Starbucks’ busy holiday season. In November 2023, thousands of workers at more than 200 stores walked out on Red Cup Day, a day when the company usually gives away thousands of reusable cups. Hundreds of workers also went on strike in June 2023 to protest when the union said Starbucks banned Pride displays in some stores.