Unionized workers from Starbucks Corporation SBUX welcome their new managing director Laxman Narasimhan with a 100 cafe strike.

What happened: The unionized workers are demanding that the coffee chain end its anti-union activities, reported Bloomberg.

The walkout will reportedly affect 40 cities across the United States and comes just a day before Narasimhan is due to attend its first annual shareholders meeting on Thursday.

Striking workers from Oregon and Washington are reportedly planning a lunchtime protest outside Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters.

Starbucks Workers United said Wednesday on Twitter that while the coffee chain “holds out a metaphorical ’empty chair’ for us in the boardroom, we are demanding a real seat at the table.”

See also: How to buy Starbucks (SBUX) stock.

Why it matters: Narasimhan took over the reins of Starbucks a week ahead of schedule on Monday. He replaced the three-time CEO and founder Howard Schultz.

Schultz is to testify before Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) led Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work and Pensions.

It was reported last year that Starbucks illegally withheld wages and benefits by union workers. At the time, the company issued a denial saying it had followed guidelines set by the National Industrial Relations Committee (NLRB).

According to Bloomberg, the union won elections in nearly 290 of Starbucks’ nearly 9,000 US coffee shops.

Despite this, the unionization process at Starbucks slowed down as the company has preferred to hand out higher wages and perks to non-union cafes.

Price promotion: On Wednesday, Starbucks shares closed 1.4% lower at $99.12, up 0.1% in after-hours trading Benzinga Pro data.

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