Skip to content Skip to footer

Starbucks Workers United Launches 5 Days of Strikes Across the US

The union now represents 11,000 workers at over 500 stores, while Starbucks continues to delay a contract agreement.

People picket outside of a Starbucks store in New York's East Village on November 16, 2023, in New York City.

Starbucks workers launched five days of escalating strikes across the United States on Friday, accusing the coffee giant of reneging on its commitment to engage in productive bargaining talks with the union that now represents more than 11,000 baristas at over 500 stores nationwide.

The walkouts will start in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle on Friday before expanding “coast to coast” amid the holiday rush, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) said in a statement announcing the strikes.

SBWU said the strikes are a response to Starbucks “backtracking on our promised path forward.” In February, the two sides agreed to “begin discussions on a foundational framework designed to achieve both collective bargaining agreements for represented stores and partners.”

But SBWU said late Thursday that the company — which repeatedly violated labor law in its bid to crush a union movement that has spread widely since 2021 — has “yet to present workers with a serious economic proposal.”

“This week, less than two weeks before their end-of-year deadline,” SBWU said, “Starbucks proposed no immediate wage increase for union baristas, and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years.”

The strikes are expected to ramp up daily through Christmas Eve unless Starbucks “honors our commitment to work towards a foundational framework,” SBWU said.

Striking baristas are also asking allies to help bolster organizing efforts at Starbucks by “hosting small flyering events at not-yet- union stores” during the five days of walkouts.

Starbucks Union picket line flyer

Friday’s walkouts come as Amazon workers are also striking at multiple delivery hubs across the country over the e-commerce giant’s refusal to engage in contract negotiations.

Earlier this week, unionized Starbucks workers voted overwhelmingly in support of authorizing a strike to protest the company’s alleged unfair labor practices and to set the stage for a strong contract.

“It’s time to finalize a foundational framework that includes meaningful investments in baristas and to resolve unfair labor practice charges,” Silvia Baldwin, a Philadelphia barista and bargaining delegate, said in a statement. “Starbucks can’t get back on track as a company until it finalizes a fair contract that invests in its workforce.”

“Right now, I’m making $16.50 an hour,” she added. “Meanwhile, [new Starbucks CEO] Brian Niccol’s compensation package is worth $57,000 an hour. The company just announced I’m only getting a 2.5% raise next year, $0.40 an hour, which is hardly anything. It’s one Starbucks drink per week. Starbucks needs to invest in the baristas who make Starbucks run.”

Angry, shocked, overwhelmed? Take action: Support independent media.

We’ve borne witness to a chaotic first few months in Trump’s presidency.

Over the last months, each executive order has delivered shock and bewilderment — a core part of a strategy to make the right-wing turn feel inevitable and overwhelming. But, as organizer Sandra Avalos implored us to remember in Truthout last November, “Together, we are more powerful than Trump.”

Indeed, the Trump administration is pushing through executive orders, but — as we’ve reported at Truthout — many are in legal limbo and face court challenges from unions and civil rights groups. Efforts to quash anti-racist teaching and DEI programs are stalled by education faculty, staff, and students refusing to comply. And communities across the country are coming together to raise the alarm on ICE raids, inform neighbors of their civil rights, and protect each other in moving shows of solidarity.

It will be a long fight ahead. And as nonprofit movement media, Truthout plans to be there documenting and uplifting resistance.

As we undertake this life-sustaining work, we appeal for your support. Please, if you find value in what we do, join our community of sustainers by making a monthly or one-time gift.