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November 14, 2025

Workers Strike at Dozens of Starbucks Stores Across U.S. to Demand Union Contracts
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More than 1,000 workers at 65 Starbucks stores across the United States
held a one-day strike Thursday to protest Starbucks's campaign of
unionbusting and its refusal to negotiate union contracts. The baristas
held the action on "Red Cup Day," typically one of Starbucks' busiest
days of the year. Starbucks Workers United calls the company one of the
most egregious violators of US labor law in modern history, with the
National Labor Relations Board finding over 500 labor law violations;
another 700 pending unfair labor practices charges have yet to be
litigated. This is Rey Shao, a 23-year-old barista at a Starbucks store
in Manhattan.

Rey Shao: "I'm putting in overtime every week just so I could afford my
rent, so I can afford bills. It's crazy that we're working a full-time
job, and I still can't afford to pay the basic necessities I need to
live. And meanwhile, our CEO is making $96 million, for only four months
of work, and meanwhile our CEO is riding in a private jet, and I'm
barely able to afford the MTA fare to go to work."

On Thursday, New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani wrote online, "While
workers are on strike, I won't be buying any Starbucks, and I'm asking
you to join us. Together, we can send a powerful message: No contract,
no coffee."


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