Starbucks unionized workers say they’ll strike on Nov. 13 if coffee giant doesn’t finalize contract

Starbucks unionized workers say they plan to strike on Nov. 13 — the coffee chain’s Red Cup Day — if the company doesn’t finalize a contract by then.

Starbucks Workers United announced Wednesday that its members voted to authorize a strike as they continue their effort to secure a labor contract that offers them better pay and more flexible hours. Thousands of union members weighed in, with an overwhelming majority — 92% — voting in favor of the strike.

The union said if Starbucks doesn’t deliver a contract in the next week, the strike would begin the same day as Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, an annual promotional event intended to drum up business for the coffee giant’s holiday menu.

The strike would start at coffee shops in 25 U.S. cities with additional stores later joining in if no progress is made, according to a spokesperson for the union, Workers United.

“The ball is in Starbucks’ court,” Michelle Eisen, a spokesperson for the union and barista at Starbucks, said in a statement.

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.

Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told CBS News the company is disappointed that the union voted to authorize a strike instead of coming to the bargaining table.

“When they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” she said in a statement. 

Negotiations at a standstill 

Starbucks Workers United, which started in upstate New York in 2021, has grown to represent more than 9,500 baristas across 550 Starbucks cafes, still a relatively small percentage of total Starbucks workers. Overall, the company has roughly 201,000 employees working in 10,000 stores across North America.

Contract negotiations between Starbucks and Workers United began in May 2024 but have reached a stalemate. The union says it has secured 33 tentative agreements from Starbucks so far, but maintains most cover non-economic issues. 

The union is asking for increased hours and higher take-home pay, among other issues. According to Anderson, the union has proposed an immediate pay increase of 65%. The union has also asked for added pay if they work a shift within three hours of opening or closing, during a promotional event or over the weekend, she said.

Starbucks’ CEO Brian Niccol recently told CBS News that he’s said he’s open to talking with union members but added that their demands “to date have been unreasonable.”

“We already give them the best job in retail. We have the lowest turnover in the industry — it’s below 50%,” he said. “We also have the best benefits in the industry, and we actually have the best wages in the industry.”

Starbucks employees receive $30 an hour in pay and benefits, while store managers, or “coffeehouse leaders” as they’re referred to by the retailer, are salaried.

Union members, for their part, say the pay isn’t enough for them to get by.

“Our fight is about actually making Starbucks jobs the best jobs in retail,” Jasmine Leli, a Starbucks barista from Buffalo, NY, said in a statement. “Right now, it’s only the best job in retail for Brian Niccol.”