Starbucks workers authorize nationwide strike

Baristas will strike on Starbucks’ busiest day of the year unless the company stops union-busting and starts negotiating in good faith

(November 6, 2025) — A supermajority of unionized Starbucks baristas have authorized an unfair labor practice strike voting by 92% to hit the strike line as the company continues to stonewall at the bargaining table. Unless Starbucks settles a fair contract, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) promises to turn November 13 — known as Red Cup Day — into the Red Cup Rebellion.

While some progress was made under previous company leadership, Starbucks’ current CEO Brian Niccol has been a significant obstacle to securing meaningful economic terms in a first contract, per SBWU. The union has filed more than a thousand ULP complaints with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of its 12,000 members; dozens have been sustained, while hundreds more remain outstanding (the Trump administration has hamstrung the NLRB without a quorum for months).

Niccol has recently stated that Starbucks may need to raise prices in 2026, and has cut jobs and shuttered stores as part of his approach to a company “reboot,” as Starbucks profits have declined in recent quarterly reports. While Niccol describes his vision as people-focused, that reboot hasn’t involved listening to the workers at the bargaining table — nor has it prompted an examination of his executive pay, compensation so astronomical Starbucks has the highest CEO-to-worker pay gap in the U.S.

Unionized baristas and allies rallying at the Starbucks Corporate Headquarters in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood earlier this year.

“Our fight is about actually making Starbucks jobs the best jobs in retail. Right now, it’s only the best job in retail for Brian Niccol,” said Jasmine Leli, a 3-year Starbucks barista and strike captain from Buffalo, NY. “Things have only gone backwards at Starbucks under Niccol’s leadership, but a fair union contract and the resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges are essential to the company’s turnaround.”

Since the first store organized in Buffalo, NY in 2022, union baristas have been pushing for a fair contract that nets workers a fair wage, ensures adequate shifts, protects workers’ rights, and resolves more than 700 outstanding ULPs. Right now, the starting wage in many stores is just above $15 an hour — that puts workers at about $31,000 a year, assuming they can get 40 hours of work every week (nationally, a worker needs to make $48,680 a year to afford the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment). But that’s a big assumption on hours: many workers report they can’t even secure the 20 hours a week needed to get benefits, let alone a full 40 hour work week.

“Too many of us rely on SNAP or Medicaid just to get by, and most baristas still don’t earn a livable wage,” said Leli. “In a majority of states, starting pay is just $15.25 an hour—and even then, we’re not getting the 20 hours a week we need to qualify for benefits.”

Finalizing a fair union contract would cost Starbucks less than one average days’ sales and less than Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol’s nearly $98 million compensation for just four months of work in 2024, per the union. Meanwhile, investors in the U.S. and overseas have begun calling on the company to improve it’s labor relations, citing concerns over both profitability and reputation. 

But if the company refuses to change course and forces baristas to strike, workers are asking community members to respect their picket line by refusing to purchase Starbucks for the duration of the strike. Supporters can share their commitment to respect that ask by signing the No Contract, No Coffee pledge.

In the meantime, workers are prepping to hit the line. To help bulk up their strike fund, supporters can buy some union swag to show their solidarity — the t-shirt proclaiming “scabs are gross” is sure to be a movement favorite.