Workers at the Starbucks store along Clarendon Boulevard in Arlington went on strike today, joining hundreds of workers across the country in their union’s biggest collective action to date. Their union, Starbucks Workers United, staged a three-day strike beginning Friday, saying the company is not bargaining fairly and instead is engaging in union-busting tactics.

“Starbucks needs to come to the negotiation table in a real, honest manner, and we do not deserve any less,” said Starbucks shift supervisor Samuel Dukore, outside his store near the Court House Metro stop. He’s worked at the coffee company for nearly 11 years. “Every day I see our customers coming in asking, ‘Have you guys got your contract yet? How’s it going?’ And every day I’m sad to tell them that there’s been no progress.”

The Courthouse, Arlington store is one of more than 250 Starbucks locations, including several in the D.C. region, that have unionized. Employees voted to form a union with the goal of having a meaningful seat at the negotiating table and improving working conditions, wages, and scheduling. It’s the second recent national strike for the chain — the Courthouse location also joined a strike on Red Cup Day nearly a month ago.

But contract negotiations have been slow moving since the first Starbucks union formed in December 2021. Representatives for the international coffee company walked out of dozens of bargaining sessions this fall shortly after starting, Workers United told the New York Times.

Starbucks has also closed a few dozen stores around the country, citing security concerns. One of those stores was the location at D.C.’s Union Station, where workers had been in the early stages of organizing. A Starbucks Workers United representative told Axios D.C., they believe the company was union busting.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, workers at roughly 100 stores nationwide are expected to participate in the work stoppage this weekend, having authorized a strike for one to three days. The Courthouse store, which formed its union in November, authorized a one-day strike for Friday. While other stores in greater Maryland and Virginia will join them, no other locations in the DMV will be striking. D.C.-area stores did not respond to a request for comment.

A Starbucks spokesperson denied the union’s allegations, saying the company remains focused on “working together and engaging meaningfully and directly with the union.” The spokesperson said company representatives have so far appeared in-person for more than 75 single-store bargaining sessions.

“We respect our partners’ right to engage in lawful protest activities, but we remain focused on listening to our partners and working alongside them to reinvent the Partner Experience and the future of Starbucks,” the spokesperson added.

On Friday, Dukore handed out flyers outside his store with a handful of his colleagues and supporters. “We love Starbucks and want to restore the vision that made this a wonderful place to support,” the flyer reads.

Dukore’s store actually closed on Friday because, as Dukore put it, Starbucks couldn’t get scabs to open. (Starbucks had been informed of the work stoppage ahead of time.) He said he’d been outside his store since 5:30 a.m. on Friday, a cold, windy day. Dukore and his colleagues explained their strike and their struggles to the several people who tried to enter the store Friday afternoon.

“They’ve been making us close earlier with fewer people now, so we got to do the same amount of work with fewer people and there’s less time to do it. And it’s hard to get things clean at the end of the night,” Dukore told one individual who headed towards the door.

“Yeah, I used to work retail. I totally understand,” they responded. “Best of luck to you guys.”

Dukore told DCist/WAMU that his store engaged in union-busting activity, firing at least two individuals as well as forcing several out by requiring more hours than they said they were available for. That’s on top of closing the store two hours earlier, making it harder for workers during closing time.

A Starbucks spokesperson tells DCist/WAMU that the company informs and trains managers to not discipline workers for engaging in lawful union activity, and that if they should “there will be no tolerance for any unlawful anti-union behavior, if ever found to be true.”

According to the Associated Press, Workers United has filed several hundred unfair labor practice charges against Starbucks since late last year, including over firing labor organizers and refusing to bargain. Judges with the National Labor Relations Board have ruled against the company in some instances. Meanwhile, the company has filed a few dozen charges against the union, alleging it defied bargaining rules for recording sessions and posting those online.

Another employee striking on Friday was barista Marada Chau. Chau rejoined the company a month ago, but had worked at Starbucks for a period of time nearly a decade ago. “In Starbucks’ future, I would love to see it less of a union versus corporation type of mindset and more of just delivering the effective service that I know Starbucks can provide,” Chau said.

Dukore said he wouldn’t quit his job for another, saying “Unions are important and necessary … If we don’t have democracy in the workplace — the thing that we need to get the money, to put the roof over our head, to get our food — then we don’t have democracy at all.”

This post has been updated to clarify Samuel Dukore’s allegations regarding Starbucks changing employees’ hours.

Previously: 

Workers At Several Starbucks Stores In Virginia Vote To Unionize

The Springfield Starbucks Union Vote Failed. This Lead Organizer Says It’s Not Over