Topline
Starbucks Workers United, representing approximately 9,000 baristas in 550 stores located in 25 major cities, voted overwhelmingly to strike on Thursday, November 13, coinciding with the company’s ‘Red Cup Day’ promotion, unless a final employment contract agreement is reached.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 23: Starbucks employees, union members and supporters strike outside of a Starbuck store which is closed down due to the strike on December 23, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Adam Gray/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Red Cup Day, when the company gives away free, reusable red cups to customers, has kicked off Starbucks’ holiday season since 2018 and ranks among the company’s busiest days, according to the Associated Press.
In 2023, some 200 of the then-unionized stores staged a “Red Cup Rebellion” strike on that year’s Red Cup Day and a strike called last year on Christmas Eve forced nearly 200 stores to close.
Over 90% of Starbucks Workers United members voted to strike this year following a six-month wait for Starbucks to put forward new proposals to address demands for better staffing, higher pay and resolutions to what SWU stated were “hundreds of unfair labor practice charges.”
Over 45 major organizations, representing more than 85 million people, sent a letter to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol and the board urging the company to finalize a contract and pledged not to cross picket lines in case of a strike.
Starbucks assured customers that fewer than 4% of its hourly workers are represented by the union and that all 10,000 company-operated stores, plus 7,000 licensed locations, will remain open to serve on Red Cup Day.
Under previous CEO Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks had promised to finalize a contract agreement by the end of 2024, but after Narasimhan’s ouster and the arrival of in-coming CEO Niccol in early September last year, negotiations stalled.
Key Background
Dissatisfaction among Starbuck’s baristas had been brewing for years, leading to the first unionization effort in five Buffalo stores in 2021. By the end of last year, 500 stores had joined Starbuck Workers United. Employee relations soured further after Niccol’s arrival last fall, following widespread media coverage of his generous employment contract, estimated to total some $113 million. It included a $10 million sign-on bonus, a $1.6 million annual salary, an annual cash bonus ranging from $3.6 million to $7.2 million depending on performance, and an initial $75 million equity grant, plus an additional annual equity grant of $23 million. In 2024, after four months of work, Niccol netted $95.8 million, mostly in stock, which the Institute for Policy Studies reported is 6,666 times that of the median barista’s pay of $14,674, the widest spread among all S&P 500 companies.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2025/11/07/starbucks-baristas-have-voted-to-strike-next-thursday-on-red-cup-day/
