On Wednesday, a Starbucks (SBUX) store in Arlington, Virginia, had to shut its business after the food chain’s union-busting prompted workers to go on strike. Labor activists and workers protested outside Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters on the eve of the annual shareholders meeting. According to reports, employees walked out of the day’s job at over 100 Workers-United Baristas in 40 U.S. cities, according to organizers.

Some stores remained open because the workforce remained on the job, but there were others where employees from nearby stores were needed to work additional shifts to step in for the strikers, Starbucks said.

The coffee company’s annual meeting will be held on Thursday, and protestors plan to call for new CEO Laxman Narasimhan to be more accepting towards their unionization efforts, according to Starbucks Workers United organizers.

Starbucks announced in September that interim CEO, Howard Schultz, would be replaced by Narasimhan on April 1. A Senate committee has been investigating the coffee industry giant’s response to the widespread unionization movement, and Schultz is getting ready to testify before them.

At least 280 company-owned Starbucks stores in the U.S. have voted in favor of unionization since late 2021. Starbucks and the union have yet to reach a contract agreement at any of those sites. Among the demands made by workers are better pay, more consistent schedules, and safer stores.

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The company opposes unionization because it claims that it already provides advantages that are unparalleled in the industry. It can be difficult for workers to accumulate enough hours to qualify for Starbucks benefits, according to labor advocates. Both parties have filed numerous grievances with the National Labor Relations Board regarding one another’s tactics.

Welcome the partners from Central & 3rd in Louisville, KY to the movement! Workers are challenging what Starbucks means when they say we’re “partners” and hoping for a new path forward with incoming CEO Laxman Narasimhan. pic.twitter.com/RK3lJfNMq1

– Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) March 23, 2023

The coffee-making chain was found to have engaged in “egregious and widespread misconduct” in Western New York, the region where the union campaign got its start, including illegal monitoring and firing of union supporters, according to a recent ruling by a court. A judge ruled last week that Starbucks must reinstate seven fired employees from a store in Buffalo, New York, for breaking labor rules. In addition, the judges ordered Schultz to read aloud or appear at a reading of employee rights and disseminate a recording of the reading to each Starbucks employee working in the United States.

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