Washington. More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas at 75 stores across the US have gone on strike since Sunday to protest a new company dress code, according to the union representing the coffee giant’s workers.

Beginning Monday, Starbucks implemented stricter dress code requirements at both company-operated and licensed stores in the US and Canada. Baristas are now required to wear solid black shirts and khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms under their signature green aprons.

The previous policy allowed a broader range of dark colors and patterned shirts. Starbucks said the update is intended to make its green aprons stand out more and foster a consistent, welcoming atmosphere in its stores.

But Starbucks Workers United, which represents employees at 570 of the company’s roughly 10,000 company-owned US stores, argued that any change to dress standards should be subject to collective bargaining.

“Starbucks has lost its way,” said Paige Summers, a shift supervisor in Hanover, Maryland. “Instead of listening to baristas who make the Starbucks experience what it is, they’re focused on the wrong things, like enforcing a restrictive new dress code. Customers don’t care what color our clothes are when they’re waiting 30 minutes for a latte.”

Summers and other workers also criticized Starbucks for continuing to sell company-branded apparel on its internal website that employees are no longer allowed to wear under the updated policy. Starbucks said it would provide two free black T-shirts to each employee following the change.

The company said Wednesday that the strikes had minimal impact on operations. According to Starbucks, more than 99 percent of its US stores remain open and serving customers. It also noted that, by the union’s own count, fewer than 1 percent of Starbucks workers have participated in the walkouts, and some store closures lasted less than an hour.

“It would be more productive if the union put as much effort into returning to the bargaining table as it does into protesting black shirts,” Starbucks said in a statement.

Starbucks Workers United has been organizing US stores since 2021, but the union and company have yet to finalize a labor contract. The two sides agreed to resume negotiations in February 2024.

This week, the union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing Starbucks of failing to negotiate over the dress code changes.