Fast food workers are unionizing, but some of the biggest chains in the country are fighting to stop them

Starbucks workers participate in November's Red Cup Rebellion, a nationwide strike demanding the company bargain in good faith.Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images

• Fast food workers around the country — from Starbucks to Chipotle — are unionizing.
• CEOs and fast food chains have often pushed back against those efforts, closing stores and even surveilling employees, some workers allege.

Fast food and service workers across the country have joined the likes of Amazon warehouse employees and formed a wave of unionization across the US.

Employees at chains like Starbucks and Chipotle have started organizing in an effort to secure better pay and benefits. But many food and retail chains are pushing back against their workers, as CEOs bash pro-worker legislation and staffers accuse their companies of union busting.

Here's a roundup of the service industry workers taking collective action, and efforts among company leaders trying to stop them.