Starbucks union members have voted to authorize a nationwide strike next week unless a contract agreement is reached with the coffee giant.
Starbucks holiday menu: Red Cup Day is back
Starbucks is bringing back fan-favorite flavors for the holiday season, including new drinks, cookies, and festive Hello Kitty merchandise.
Starbucks union members voted Wednesday, Nov. 5, to authorize a nationwide strike on the popular coffee chain’s Red Cup Day next week unless a contract agreement is reached.
Starbucks Workers United announced in a statement that the strike will begin on Thursday, November 13th. This is the day Starbucks plans to celebrate its annual and often crowded Red Cup Day, when it hands out free reusable red cups to customers.
The union did not say how many Starbucks stores would be affected. But it said workers in at least 25 cities were planning strikes, with more locations likely to be added. Unions cite the wide disparity between CEO and employee pay in their contract demands.
Starbucks CEO Brian Nicol earned 6,666 times more than the average employee in 2024, according to the AFL-CIO union federation’s annual Executive Paywatch report.
“Our fight is to actually make the Starbucks job the best job in retail. Right now, it’s the only best job in retail for Brian Nicol,” Jasmine Lelli, a third-year Starbucks barista and strike captain from Buffalo, New York, said in a Nov. 5 news release.
Starbucks Workers United represents workers at about 550 of the coffee chain’s estimated 10,000 U.S. stores, which are unionized.
Starbucks disappointed in union strike decision
In an emailed statement to USA TODAY, Starbucks spokesperson Jaycee Anderson said the company was disappointed that the union chose to strike rather than negotiate.
“When they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” she said.
In a letter to Starbucks employees, Sara Kelly, Starbucks’ chief partner officer, said the union represents a small portion of Starbucks employees and the union’s demands are not “serious.”
Kelly said those demands included a proposed 65% immediate raise, a 77% raise over three years, and additional pay on weekends and promotion days. Kelly also said requests such as suspending mobile ordering when a store has five or more orders in its queue “significantly impact store operations and the customer experience.”
Starbucks union’s past strikes
If the strike, scheduled for Nov. 13, begins as planned, it will be the latest example of workers walking off the job at Starbucks stores across the country during busy periods.
In 2023, thousands of Starbucks employees at over 200 stores went on strike on Red Cup Day. In 2024, 59 stores were closed for five days due to a labor union strike ahead of the Christmas rush.
“Union baristas mean business and are prepared to do whatever it takes to win fair contracts and end Starbucks’ unfair labor practices,” Michelle Eisen, a spokeswoman for Starbucks Workers United and a 15-year veteran barista, said in a Nov. 5 release.
Contributor: Mike Snider/USA TODAY
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.
