Challenging the company narrative, SBWU will rally

As layoffs and store closures hit workers nation-wide, Starbucks Workers United members will make their voices heard in Seattle 

SEATTLE, WA (October 2, 2025) — In the wake of Starbucks corporate’s decision to close hundreds of stores, including 59 union locations, Starbucks Workers United members in Seattle will rally on Monday, October 6 outside company headquarters. While CEO Brian Niccol “restructures” the company by cutting jobs, union baristas are calling on the company to take a more productive tack; collaborate with frontline workers on a path forward by settling a fair contract.

The wildly popular Roastery in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, a notable tourist attraction, is one of the dozens of shuttered union locations. Whatever arguments about the location’s profitability that the company may make, one thing is certain: locations like the Roastery have been the site of frequent worker rallies, with baristas demonstrating outside as recently as last week.

As a massive corporation, Starbucks has a well-staffed PR team, which has flooded the media with a crafted narrative about store closures. But the workers have a different story to tell, one that recognizes how the company has prioritized executive pay at the expense of frontline workers.

“Fixing what’s broken at Starbucks isn’t possible without centering the people who engage with the company’s customers day in and day out,” said SBWU in a statement. “Starbucks is talking a big game about cost cutting, but at the same time paid Brian Niccol $98 million last year and spent over $80 million on a glitzy managers-only conference in Las Vegas this June. It has never been more clear why baristas at Starbucks need the backing of a union.”

Starbucks workers and allies at a rally at Starbucks headquarters in 2023.

“We’re demanding Starbucks finalize a fair union contract with 12,000 union baristas,” continued SBWU. “For less than one average day’s sales, we can address the remaining items in the contract and move forward.”

Although a settled collective bargaining agreement in arms reach, the company has continued it’s pattern of hostility towards the union, stonewalling at the bargaining table. SBWU has filed hundreds of unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board, many of them sustained (with many more still outstanding). And the wildly overpaid CEO Niccol has a history of union-busting — perhaps unsurprising for a CEO making 6,666 times more than the typical Starbucks worker.

Despite these obstacles, SBWU brought the company to effects bargaining, securing some benefits for members to soften the blow of store closures. Now, Seattle Starbucks workers demonstrate at the company’s headquarters, denouncing the closures and reaffirming their calls for Starbucks to move forward by working with baristas and settling a contract, not slashing jobs without worker input.

TAKE A STAND: join Starbucks Workers United baristas and allies on Monday, October 6 from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at Starbucks headquarters (2401 Utah Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134).