04:08 AM EST, 12/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Starbucks ( SBUX ) employees returned to work Wednesday after a five-day strike in which the union claimed baristas in 43 states walked off the job as of Tuesday, closing hundreds of stores.

The union described the labor action as the biggest strike in the company's history and vowed further action.

"We will keep fighting until Starbucks ( SBUX ) presents workers with a serious economic proposal at the bargaining table," the union, Starbucks Workers United, said in a Wednesday Instagram post. "We're ready to do what it takes to show the company the consequences of not keeping their promises to baristas."

The five-day labor action began Friday in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago but spread day by day to other cities before ending on Tuesday, the New York Times reported.

Starbucks ( SBUX ) referred MT Newswires on Tuesday to a Dec. 23 statement in which it downplayed the impact of the strike.

"The public conversation may lack the important context that the vast majority of our stores (97-99%) will continue to operate and serve customers, and we expect a very limited impact to our overall operations," the company said. "We are ready to continue negotiations when the union comes back to the bargaining table."