On the eve of Christmas, the wave of strikes at Starbucks in the USA continues to spread.

Starting from last Friday, Starbucks unions have held strikes in several cities across the USA, escalating in intensity.

This could potentially become the largest strike in the history of this coffee giant.

As a result, Starbucks' stock price has dropped more than 5% over the past five trading days. In today's Pre-Market Trading, the company's stock price continues to fall, currently at $87.35.

On Christmas Eve, the strike continues to expand.

On the 19th local time, the Starbucks union announced a five-day strike for unfair labor practices.

As of this Monday, over 60 Starbucks stores in 12 major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle, have closed.

The union also stated that strikes will spread to other stores in more cities on Tuesday.

It is expected that over 5,000 workers from more than 300 stores in the USA will participate in the strike on Christmas Eve, which could impact the business during the busiest Christmas season of the year.

Reportedly, Starbucks has over 0.011 million stores in the USA, employing about 0.2 million people.

On a normal working day, a Starbucks company-owned store generates sales of about $4,000 to $8,000, with sales typically higher in December.

To this end, Starbucks issued a statement on Monday stating that 97% to 99% of Starbucks stores will continue to operate, and the impact of the strike on overall Operation is expected to be "very limited."

Starbucks stated that the union prematurely ended the negotiation meeting between both parties and refused to return to the negotiating table.

The company will be ready to continue negotiations when the union returns to the negotiating table.

Demand: Salary increase.

The start of the strike stemmed from a deadlock in negotiations between Starbucks and the union.

Since the beginning of the year, both parties have been negotiating issues such as wages, staffing, and work schedules, including more than 150 pending allegations of unfair labor practices.

Previously, Starbucks promised to increase wages for union employees by 1.5% or more each year, but the union was not satisfied with this proposal.

The union stated that the strike was due to the company not immediately granting them a wage increase and guaranteeing a 1.5% increase in the following years, which amounts to less than 50 cents per hour for hourly workers.

At the same time, the company also failed to fulfill its previous commitment to reach a labor agreement this year.

Starbucks stated that the wage increase demands from the workers' union are unsustainable.

The proposal from the workers' union demands an immediate 64% increase in the minimum wage for hourly workers and a 77% increase during the three-year contract period. This is unsustainable.

The company stated that over the past three years, Starbucks has invested more than $3 billion in partner experience and reiterated that the company offers a competitive average wage of over $18 per hour and top-notch benefits.

For baristas working at least 20 hours a week, the average wages and benefits at Starbucks amount to around $30 per hour.