Posts tagged barista
US Flight Attendants Told to Ditch Their Starbucks Fix in New Union Boycott
October 21, 2026 // Sara Nelson launched the boycott on October 16, 2026, urging airline crew members to support Starbucks workers seeking better pay, fair schedules and a first union contract.
First Starbucks in Oregon to unionize is being shuttered
September 27, 2026 // A Starbucks representative told KLCC that the Willamette Street store will close on Saturday, Sept. 26. She said the closure wasn’t retaliatory for unionizing, but was instead based on “an objective evaluation” of customer experience and financial performance as outlined in a letter sent by Mike Grams, Starbucks’ chief operating officer. “We’re accelerating our pace toward completing 1,500 coffeehouse uplifts, and Green Apron Service has become our defining standard,” Gram’s letter states. “Our Back to Starbucks strategy is working
Opinion: I liked the idea of unions. Then I joined one at Starbucks.
September 25, 2026 // I was part of a bargaining unit, so I expected to have a say in union matters, but I realized the union wasn't interested in my point of view. Instead, it was there to serve a handful of workers.
After months-long barista strike, Starbucks to resume bargaining with SBWU union
March 26, 2026 // Over 14,000 unionized baristas are demanding higher pay, better staffing and for Starbucks to resolve over 600 unfair labor practice charges that SBWU has filed with the National Labor Relations Board. The union has dialed back its pay increase demands since going on strike over four months ago. It’s now asking for a minimum hourly wage of $17 per hour, down from $20 per hour in November, and 4% annual pay raises, instead of 5%.
Newsmakers 2025: Barista who helped unionize Verve says the experience changed how she saw herself
January 5, 2026 // In the weeks that followed, Pavy’s coworkers elected her to represent employees of the downtown Santa Cruz coffeehouse in negotiations with Barr and O’Donovan, alongside representatives from the Fair Avenue and San Francisco cafés, and UFCW. So far, the bargaining committee has met once to discuss non-economic parts of the contract, like workplace rules and job security. The process is expected to last through 2026.
US judges leery of NLRB ruling that ex-Starbucks CEO illegally threatened union supporter
December 4, 2025 // “It does seem to me that this is sort of a gotcha by the board,” said Southwick, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush. “The board is looking very narrowly on what the context here was.”
Pro-union flyers appear in Starbucks headquarters as some corporate staff quietly support barista strikes
November 18, 2025 // Employees say the flyers have appeared in hallways and bathroom stalls across the Seattle building this week, while some corporate workers whisper support for the baristas on strike. The flyers first appeared just days before baristas launched a nationwide strike at dozens of stores in 40 cities to pressure the company to finalize their first union contract. The strike, which is the unionized baristas' fourth work stoppage in two years — and their third since Brian Niccol became CEO in September 2024 — began on Red Cup Day, an annual promotional event that offers customers a free reusable cup with their purchase and generates significant sales for the company.
Starbucks unionized workers say they’ll strike on Nov. 13 if coffee giant doesn’t finalize contract
November 6, 2025 // If the strike happens this month, it would mark the union's third national work stoppage in the past year. Workers United last protested in May over Starbucks' new dress code, and thousands also walked off the job in December 2024.
Cheesman Park cafe closes abruptly amid staff unionization effort
October 14, 2025 // The Secret Garden Bar & Cafe closed abruptly during service on Friday morning after workers began petitioning passers-by about their efforts to form a union. City Street Investors opened Secret Garden a year ago, next to its company headquarters at the Tears–McFarlane House, 1290 Williams St., a historic mansion adjacent to Cheesman Park in Denver. But barista Tess Devillier told the Denver Post that the company grew frustrated by employee attempts to unionize earlier this year.
NY Starbucks Barista Asks Federal Labor Board to Restore Employees’ Right to Vote Out SBWU Union Officials
September 14, 2025 // SBWU union bosses prevented worker-requested union removal vote by filing unverified charges, never demonstrated link to worker effort. Starbucks barista Nadia Kuban is asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Washington, DC, to overturn federal policies that are preventing her colleagues from having a vote to remove unwanted Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) union officials from their workplace. Kuban is receiving free legal aid from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.