- Over a thousand Starbucks workers participated in the walkout on Red Cup Day.
- The strike aims for better hours, pay and resolving unfair labor practices.
- Union members criticized Starbucks for lack of new proposals since April's contract rejection.
More than a thousand unionized Starbucks workers across the country walked off the job on Thursday as they demand concessions from the company during their contract negotiations.
Starbucks Workers United, the union which represents the baristas, said the strike would impact 65 stores in 40 cities, per The New York Times. The union added that it’s “prepared to continue escalating” its protests if the company doesn’t deliver a fair new contract.
The strike fell on Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, an annual promotion when the coffee chain’s customers receive red holiday-themed reusable cups if they order a holiday-themed beverage.
In addition to the walkout, the union will hold rallies in 17 cities. The action is being referred to as the “Red Cup Rebellion.”
The union, which represents more than 12,000 baristas at over 600 Starbucks locations, voted to authorize the strike last Wednesday, per The New York Times. In the vote, 92% of its baristas voted in favor.
In a news release, the union said that Starbucks had “stonewalled” its baristas who are seeking better hours, more pay and the resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges. Union members say Starbucks hasn’t made new proposal on key issues since the labor group rejected an offer from the company in April, per ABC News.
Starbucks released a statement after the strike was authorized, saying its “commitment to bargaining hasn’t changed,” and that it believed both parties will be able to “move quickly” toward a contract if unionized baristas “are ready to come back.”
This is the second time in less than a year that the union has held a strike. Workers also walked off the job during Red Cup Day in 2022 and 2023.
In December 2024, over 5,000 baristas at stores around the country went on strike after the company didn’t offer a substantial wage increase while bargaining, according to The New York Times. That strike lasted five days.
In May, baristas also walked out to protest a policy to change their dress code, which the union said should have been made through collective bargaining.
Earlier this week, over 100 lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., signed letters to Starbucks’ chief executive, Brian Niccol, urging the company to bargain for a fair contract and resolve the labor disputes.
“We are troubled by reports that since you started your role as C.E.O. in September 2024, the company has failed to put forward a serious economic proposal, backtracking on the previously agreed-upon path forward,” the letter signed by 26 senators said, per The New York Times.
More than 80 members of the House of Representatives signed a similar letter, which said, “It is clear that Starbucks has the money to reach a fair agreement with its workers,” asking how it “will reverse course from its current posture.”
The current strike could hurt Starbucks’ business during its busy holiday season, which normally provides a sales boost and is key to the company’s plan to turn around performance in the U.S., per CNBC.
As of late Thursday morning, the company said the strike had limited effects on its key sales.
“The day is off to an incredible start — based on what we’ve seen this morning, we’re on track to exceed our sales expectations for the day across company-operated coffeehouses in North America,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told CNBC.