Employees at Starbucks Corp's outlets in Chile plan to walk out on Thursday because, they say, their wages are so low that they can't afford to buy lunch, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Unionized employees at 30 of Starbucks' 31 Chilean stores plan to walk out for as many as several days the Journal reported, citing the president of the union Sindicato de Trabajadores de Starbucks Coffee Chile.

The starting hourly wage for Chilean Starbucks workers is the equivalent of $2.50 and has not changed in eight years the Journal said on its website, citing the union president.

The coffee chain's employees in Chile have been pressing for a lunch stipend since they organized two years ago and in April the union presented the company with a proposal seeking a monthly lunch bonus of $100, among other requests, the Journal reported.

But because the demands have not been met the union voted to strike on June 25, the paper said.

Starbucks could not be immediately reached for comment by Reuters, but the Journal cited a company spokesman as saying the company will be able to keep all of its stores open if the strike happens.

(Reporting by Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; editing by Carol Bishopric)