Red Cup Rebellion: Starbucks Workers United launches nationwide strike

Buffalo, New York - This Red Cup Day, Starbucks workers around the country are going on strike to protest the company's anti-union activities.

Starbucks workers in Buffalo and New York City participate in the Red Cup Rebellion on November 17, 2022.
Starbucks workers in Buffalo and New York City participate in the Red Cup Rebellion on November 17, 2022.  © Collage: Screenshot/Twitter/michelleeisen & Screenshot/Twitter/WorkersUnitedNY

The coffee chain's annual Red Cup Day on Thursday rings in the holidays with a giveaway of a reusable cup on select orders. This year, Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) is marking the occasion with a strike at over 100 stores – the biggest coordinated national action in the union's history.

Starbucks workers are tired of low wages, short staffing, unfair scheduling, and unsafe working conditions. They say that instead of negotiating in good faith, the company has fired organizers, closed stores seeking to unionize, and refused to cooperate at the bargaining table.

Starbucks is facing over 900 allegations of unfair labor practices and 39 official complaints from the National Labor Relations Board. Nevertheless, SBWU is going strong with more than 260 unionized stores to date.

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On Red Cup Day, the union is wielding its power to call out the coffee company for profiting off its "progressive" image without delivering for its own employees.

"Whether it's firing one of my coworkers for wearing a suicide awareness pin, how they've closed down a dozen locations in the process of unionizing, or how we're being denied benefits that non-union stores are getting, Starbucks has left behind the very values that drew many of us to the company in the first place," Michelle Eisen, a leader at the US' first unionized Starbucks in Buffalo, New York, said in a Starbucks Workers United press release.

"You cannot be pro-LGTBQ, pro-BLM, pro-sustainability, and anti-union. This Red Cup Day, we're organizing for a voice on the job and a true seat at the table," she added.

SBWU supporters can check out this map to find the nearest picket line and get their own union red cup.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/Twitter/michelleeisen & Screenshot/Twitter/WorkersUnitedNY

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