Posts tagged Starbucks
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.”
Starbucks to pay $38.9 million settlement after it violated New York’s labor laws
December 2, 2025 // According to the settlement made public on Monday, Starbucks will pay $35.5 million to the 15,000 current and former employees who worked at the company's stores between July 2021 and July 2024. The settlement will give each of these workers $50 each week to resolve the alleged violations of the city's Fair Workweek ordinance. “With this landmark settlement, we’ll put tens of millions of dollars back into the pockets of hard-working New Yorkers and reinforce every New Yorker’s right to a reliable schedule, full hours, and basic dignity,” Adams said in a statement. Additionally, Starbucks will shell out $3.4 million in civil penalties and fees, and the settlement guarantees employees laid off during recent store closings will get a chance to get reinstated at other company locations, according to the announcement.
Starbucks Strike Enters Third Week Deadlocked With Both Sides Holding Firm
December 2, 2025 // While the union is waiting for the company to put forward “new proposals that address union baristas’ demands,” Starbucks is holding out for contract negotiations to resume. The company has made clear that the union’s pay demands, such as a 65% wage increase, are untenable, since the company already offers one of the best wage and benefit packages in retail, totaling $30 per hour for workers who average 20 hours or more per week. Supporting that claim, Starbucks receives more than a million job applications per year and has a turnover rate that is less than half that of the retail industry. To date, the company has made no statement regarding the ULP allegations. However, in June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks, finding that it followed the law after terminating seven Memphis employees during unionization efforts.
Get on the Job and Organize with Inside Organizer School
November 23, 2025 // On November 6, a panel of labor organizers local to the Twin Cities gathered with the IOS at the East Side Freedom Library in St. Paul, Minn. The conversation centered on Brisack’s book, Get on the Job and Organize: Standing up for a Better Workplace and a Better World, which was released in April. Packed with labor history, the book is about Brisack’s experience salting at Starbucks, but also about their experience as an external organizer for union campaigns at Nissan and Tesla. The conversation was not limited to salting. During the event, panelists connected wisdom from the book to their own experiences organizing different industries in Minnesota, and shared tips and stories with audience members about organizing in general.
Starbucks Union Says 30 More US Stores Are Joining Week-Old Strike
November 22, 2025 // Starbucks said the strike has caused minimal disruption to its operations, and noted that this year's Red Cup Day was the strongest in the company's history in terms of sales and store traffic. Placer.ai, a location data company, said Starbucks' foot traffic jumped 44.5% last Thursday compared to this year's daily average. Starbucks said only 49 of the 65 stores that the union vowed to strike last week experienced any disruption, and 29 of those have reopened.
Twin Cities Starbucks picketed during strike is vandalized, police say
November 21, 2025 // Non-striking employees at the St. Anthony coffeeshop at 3704 Silver Lake Road arrived 30 minutes before its 7 a.m. scheduled opening to find “a substance consistent with super glue and expanding foam had been applied to the locks” moments earlier, a police statement read. One employee told police about interacting with people in a vehicle nearby and believed to be connected to a group expecting to picket outside Wednesday.
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.
Zohran Mamdani tells 1M social media followers to boycott Starbucks amid ongoing worker strike
November 17, 2025 // We’ve been very clear - when the union is ready to come back to the bargaining table, we’re ready to talk. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year. Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners."
Red Cup clapback: Pa. Starbucks workers to strike
November 11, 2025 // Starbucks baristas from across Pennsylvania, and the country, are kicking off the coffee company’s holiday season with a one-day strike on Thursday, which coincides with its annual “Red Cup Day.” According to the Associated Press, Red Cup Day is one of Starbucks’ busiest days of the year, when it distributes free, reusable red coffee cups to customers.
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.