ST. ANTHONY, Minn. — Twin Cities Starbucks baristas joined a nationwide strike Tuesday afternoon.

Baristas demonstrate outside the store on Silverlake Road in St. Anthony, demanding higher wages.

“We’re trying to get a fair wage in a society where the cost of living is rising dramatically, and when you have companies like Starbucks that generate billions of dollars in revenue and profits, and there are things where you have one.” “The sign-on bonus for a new CEO who was CEO at Chipotle is over $100 million and we’re not seeing any of that,” said Anton Olson, shift manager at Starbucks in St. Anthony. “It feels unfair.”

Workers at seven other locations in Minnesota were expected to strike on Tuesday.

That’s according to Workers United, the union that represents workers at 525 Starbucks stores across the country More than 5,000 workers at more than 300 stores were expected to walk off their jobs on Tuesday. However, Starbucks said approximately 170 stores did not open as planned on Christmas Eve.

The union describes the strike as unfair labor practices started on Fridaywith strikes in Los Angeles, Chicago and Seattle.

Starbucks said in a statement that Workers United “decided last week to withdraw from negotiations.”

The Seattle-based company says the union is demanding an immediate 64% increase in the minimum wage and a 77% increase over three years.

“This is not sustainable,” Starbucks said.