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Starbucks Workers to Start US Strike on Friday

Unionized workers at Starbucks in the United States are walking off the job Friday in a strike that is set to spread over the following days - AFP
Unionized workers at Starbucks in the United States are walking off the job Friday in a strike that is set to spread over the following days - AFP
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Starbucks Workers to Start US Strike on Friday

Unionized workers at Starbucks in the United States are walking off the job Friday in a strike that is set to spread over the following days - AFP
Unionized workers at Starbucks in the United States are walking off the job Friday in a strike that is set to spread over the following days - AFP

Workers at Starbucks will walk off the job Friday in three US cities in a strike their union threatened could spread around the country in the busy run-up to Christmas.

The announcement, which will initially affect stores in Los Angeles, Chicago and the firm's home city of Seattle, comes as online giant Amazon was also hit by a walkout in the crucial final shopping days of the festive period.

Starbucks Workers United, which says it represents baristas at hundreds of outlets around the country, said its action was aimed at forcing the company to improve pay and conditions after months of negotiations that it said have gone nowhere.

"Nobody wants to strike. It's a last resort, but Starbucks has broken its promise to thousands of baristas and left us with no choice," a union press release quoted Texas barista Fatemeh Alhadjaboodi as saying.

The strike, which the union says will hit more outlets every day until Tuesday, comes as Starbucks grapples with stagnating sales in key markets.

Former Chipotle boss Brian Niccol was brought on board this year with a mandate to staunch a decline that saw quarterly revenue worldwide fall three percent to $9 billion.

"In September, Brian Niccol became CEO with a compensation package worth at least $113 million," thousands of times the wage of the average barista, said union member Michelle Eisen in the statement.

The union said Starbucks had not engaged fruitfully for several months, and threatened it was ready to "show the company the consequences."

"We refuse to accept zero immediate investment in baristas' wages and no resolution of the hundreds of outstanding unfair labor practices," said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, AFP reported.

"Union baristas know their value, and they're not going to accept a proposal that doesn't treat them as true partners."

Starbucks pointed the finger back at Workers United, saying that its delegates "prematurely ended our bargaining session this week."

"It is disappointing they didn't return to the table given the progress we've made to date," the company told AFP in an email.

It added that it offers "a competitive average pay of over $18 per hour", and benefits that include health coverage, paid family leave, company stock grants and free college tuition for employees.

"We are ready to continue negotiations to reach agreements. We need the union to return to the table," the company said.

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Varieties

Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
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Cute carnivores: Bloodthirsty California Squirrels Go Nuts for Vole Meat

This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP
This handout photo obtained from the University of California on December 18, 2024, shows ground squirrels eating voles in Davis, California. Sonja Wild / University of California, Davis/AFP

Squirrels might look like adorable, nut-hoarding furballs, but some are ruthless predators that hunt, tear apart, and devour voles.
That's the startling finding of a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of Ethology -- the first to document widespread carnivorous behavior in these seemingly innocent creatures.
"There is always something new to learn and wild animals continue to surprise us," lead author Jennifer E. Smith, an associate professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire told AFP.
"In a changing world with many technological advances, there is no replacement for direct observation of natural history, including watching the squirrels and birds that often visit our backyards."
The observations were made this summer, during the 12th year of a long-term study conducted at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, California.
Between June and July, researchers recorded 74 interactions involving California ground squirrels and voles, with 42 percent of them involving active hunting of their fellow rodents.
Co-author Sonja Wild, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis, admitted she was initially skeptical of the reports brought to her by undergraduate students who first witnessed the behavior.
"I could barely believe my eyes," said Wild. But "once we started looking, we saw it everywhere."
It was previously known that as many as 30 species of squirrels opportunistically consume meat, ranging from small fish to birds. However, it was unclear whether this behavior stemmed from scavenging or active predation.
The new study is the first to confirm that hunting is, in fact, a common behavior.
Researchers observed squirrels crouching low to the ground before ambushing their prey, though more often, they chased voles, pounced, and delivered a neck bite followed by vigorous shaking.
The study also found that the squirrels' carnivorous behavior peaked during the first two weeks of July, coinciding with a surge in vole populations reported by citizen scientists on the iNaturalist app.
Other animals, such as raccoons, coyotes, and spotted hyenas, have been known to adapt their hunting strategies in response to human-induced changes in their environments.
"In a changing world, it can be daunting to consider all of the challenges that human presence, habitat loss, and climate change impose on animals," said Smith.
"Our study offers an exciting silver lining, demonstrating the incredible flexibility that some animals possess."
Several questions still remain unanswered.
Researchers hope to investigate how widespread hunting behavior is among squirrel species, whether it is passed down from parents to pups, and how it affects their broader ecosystems.