Workers at 2 Chicago Starbucks stores go on strike to protest condition, asking for fully staffed union stores

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Workers at two Chicago Starbucks stores went on strike Thursday

Staff at the Starbucks at Ridge and Clark and Armitage and Hoyne hit the picket line Thursday morning. They joined more than 100 stores across the country in the so-called "Red Cup Rebellion."

The strike coincides with the coffee giant's  popular Red Cup Day, one of the their biggest sales days of the year. The strikers demand Starbucks fully staff all the stores where workers have unionized.

They also said it's time the company start bargaining in good faith.

"The main thing we are fighting for at Starbucks is protected benefits, protected hours and fair wages, essentially," said Shepard Cearl, Starbucks worker. "We are retaliating in order to say we are here too. We need to be heard and treated as equal partners."

It's the first time unionized baristas have banded together across the country to disrupt operations. In a statement, Starbucks said it respects its employees rights to lawfully protest.

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