'No Contract, No Coffee': Starbucks Workers Hold Largest Strike in Company History

Thousands of unionized Starbucks workers took part in the largest strike against the company in its history on Thursday. Known as the “Red Cup Rebellion,” the strike was planned in response to Starbucks’ Red Cup day, known to be one of its most profitable days of the year. 

Workers from hundreds of stores around the country refused to come in to work, instead holding picket lines outside their stores to demand that Starbucks bargain with their union, Starbucks Workers United. Since the first store successfully unionized over a year ago, the National Labor Relations Board has tallied ballots in 454 elections around the country, of which 369 were successful. 

At the Astor Place Starbucks in New York City, which often has long lines because it sits at the entrance to a subway station, workers marched in front of the entrance chanting “What’s disgusting? Union-busting! What’s appalling? Contract stalling!” and handing out informational pamphlets to people exiting the store. 

“We’ve been unionized for over a year, and nothing has been changed over the past year,” said Edwin Palmasolis, a barista at the Astor Place Starbucks who has been with the union since it won its election last year. “We’ve been trying to negotiate with Starbucks, and Starbucks would not either meet with us, or they’ll try anything to stall when it comes to the bargaining contract.” 

After reading a pamphlet, one person who had come walking up the sidewalk took a selfie with it and joined in the picket line for several minutes. Strikers chanted “No contract, no coffee!” and “Dignity, respect! More money in our checks!”

Every year on Red Cup day, the coffee giant gives away free reusable cups to customers who purchase holiday-themed drinks. This means that stores are quickly flooded with customers anxious to get merchandise. Workers say they’re so understaffed that they can barely handle the influx, and the corporation has given them no help. 

“On our side, on Red Cup Day, we know we’re expecting a lot of customers, and we already knew that we weren’t going to be properly staffed,” Palmasolis said. “So we want to make sure that we are here today to strike, and to know that we’re fighting for a change. That’s all we’re asking for.”

Starbucks has refused to negotiate with the union on numerous occasions, and has been accused of violating labor law by workers, the NLRB, and even the Senate HELP committee. Most recently, the company and the union sued each other after some branches of the union made pro-Palestine statements on social media, which Starbucks said harmed its business. The union claimed this was Starbucks’ strategy to “exploit the ongoing tragedy in the Middle East to bolster the company’s anti-union campaign.”

Starbucks has said that it prefers to keep a “direct relationship” with its workers, and that a union would block that communication. 

“They don’t really want to meet with us, or they’ll try to do anything to block us from [sharing] our stories,” Palmasolis said. “Which is a shame because one of their mission values is that they want people to be honest and transparent about their work environment. Our mental health has reached a capacity where we just feel overworked and I think it’s just not healthy for us to continue like this.” 

A Starbucks spokesperson told Motherboard in an email that the company was “aware that Workers United has publicized a day of action at a small subset of our U.S. stores this week,” and that it hoped that “Workers United’s priorities will shift to include the shared success of our partners and working to negotiate union contracts for those they represent.” 

“Despite escalating rhetoric and recurring rallies demanding contracts, Workers United hasn't agreed to meet to progress contract bargaining in more than five months,” the spokesperson wrote. They said that the company was “ready to progress in-person negotiations.”

This strike marked the second Red Cup Rebellion, the first having been held last year. Workers previously told us that Red Cup Day was “pure chaos” and “absolutely unbearable” because of the frantic environment and customers clamoring for free cups. 

“Two, four, six, eight! Starbucks, come negotiate!” workers chanted at the Astor Place picket line. 

“We have nearly 10,000 stores open right now delighting our customers with the joy of Red Cup Day,” the Starbucks spokesperson wrote. “There are also a few dozen stores with some partners on strike, and the majority of those store[s] are open and serving customers.”

Other unions have pledged solidarity to the Starbucks workers. The Teamsters, whose members often work in supply chains that bring products and materials to Starbucks, stood in solidarity with the baristas by refusing to deliver their goods. 

“Starbucks’ Board and executives can only ignore the collective voices of thousands of Starbucks workers for so long,” Teamsters president Sean O’Brien said in a statement. “This is what happens when greedy CEOs deny workers a contract and union bust. You get a Red Cup Rebellion.”