MADISON (WKOW) — Ahead of the holidays, Starbucks employees were on picket lines in cities like Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Unionized Starbucks workers in Madison have also joined the call for the company to make good on its promises for fairer labor practices.

On Friday, as the barista union began its first day of strike, it filed a new unfair labor conditions lawsuit, claiming Starbucks “refused to negotiate and negotiated in bad faith.”

In addition to the already growing number of unfair labor cases currently being addressed by the National Labor Relations Board, these strikes continued over the weekend and resulted in Starbucks workers leaving and closing stores in cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle.

“We’re all trying to negotiate just for better wages and better worker rights,” said Olivia Lerche, a member of Starbucks Workers United.

Starbucks union members in Madison took to the picket line early Tuesday and closed three Starbucks locations in Madison as part of the nationwide strike.

Lerche told 27 News the strike could potentially last beyond Christmas Day.

Baristas were expected to return to work on Wednesday, ending the five-day strike, but the union says it is ready to continue negotiations with the company and will continue to strategize in the meantime.

“Their CEO makes thousands, tens of thousands of dollars a day,” said Joanna Frasch, treasurer of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 32. “And you know, these baristas can’t even rely on the company to provide them with ongoing health insurance.”

27 News reached out to Starbucks for comment on Tuesday but did not immediately receive a response.

Starbucks has offered all workers a guaranteed wage increase of 1.5% per year, but the union says that’s not enough.