Thursday saw the escalation of a strike by Starbucks baristas, staged in protest against the company's recently implemented dress code.

Starbucks Workers United, a union representing the coffee chain's U.S. employees, reports that over 2,000 baristas across 120 American stores have initiated strike action since Sunday, citing grievances with the recently implemented dress code.

Effective Monday, Starbucks has instituted stricter regulations concerning attire worn beneath their signature green aprons, mandating that baristas in company-operated and licensed establishments throughout the U.S. and Canada adhere to a dress code of solid black shirts and khaki, black, or blue denim trousers.

The erstwhile dress code permitted baristas greater latitude in their sartorial choices, encompassing a wider spectrum of dark hues and patterned shirts; however, Starbucks posited that the revised regulations, by accentuating their signature green aprons, would cultivate a heightened sense of brand recognition amongst patrons, fostering a more convivial and inviting atmosphere within their establishments, as part of a broader customer experience initiative.

However, Starbucks Workers United, the union representing employees in over half a thousand of Starbucks' ten thousand US-based company-operated stores, has asserted that the dress code ought to be a matter for collective bargaining.

Paige Summers, a Starbucks shift supervisor from Hanover, Maryland, asserted that the company has lost its focus, prioritizing inconsequential matters such as a stringent new dress code over the concerns of its baristas, who are integral to the Starbucks experience, adding that customers are unlikely to be concerned with employee attire when faced with protracted wait times for their beverages.

Summers et al. further censured the corporation for vending discontinued Starbucks-branded apparel, previously permissible for employee attire, on an internal e-commerce platform, a move that coincided with the announcement of a revised dress code under which Starbucks pledged to furnish each employee with two complimentary black T-shirts.

The Starbucks Workers Union announced Wednesday that walkouts, involving approximately 1,000 employees, had been staged across 75 U.S. locations; Starbucks countered that the industrial action had a negligible effect on its 10,000 company-operated stores nationwide, adding that some closures lasted less than an hour.

In a statement, Starbucks asserted that the union's energy would be better directed towards renewed negotiations rather than their symbolic protests, such as wearing black shirts to work; they further emphasized that over 99% of their stores remain open and operational, serving customers consistently throughout the week.

Reader commentary from the Associated Press regarding the dress code evinced divergent perspectives, with some positing that Starbucks baristas' grievances were overstated, given the prevalence of mandated apparel in the retail sector, while others contended that Starbucks ought to prioritise ameliorating beverage quality and pricing, alongside cultivating employee satisfaction, rather than fixating on sartorial matters.

Maddie Mucklow, a Starbucks store manager in Seattle, voiced her support for the recently implemented regulations.

Mucklow conceded that the revised dress code presented initial challenges for store partners, but maintained that it ultimately fostered a more unified and mutually respectful environment while still affording scope for individual expression.

Since 2021, Starbucks Workers United has been orchestrating unionization efforts across Starbucks stores in the U.S.; however, despite a commitment to resume negotiations in February 2024, a contractual agreement between Starbucks and the union remains elusive.

This week, the union announced it had lodged a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, asserting Starbucks' refusal to negotiate the implementation of the revised dress code.