By Faye Dorman
Elm Staff Writer
No matter how much they promote their new holiday line of drinks, most of the conversations regarding Starbucks center around their employees and the picket line that stretches across the U.S. After years of demanding better pay and better treatment, the dam broke leading to nearly a thousand strung out baristas striking not only for better compensation and labor practices, but for better treatment as human beings.
According to the Associated Press, on Nov. 13 the employees of over 200 stores across 40 cities in the U.S. went on strike in a unionized effort to force labor negotiations within the company to progress. With the goal to disrupt Red Cup Day, a Starbuck’s “holiday” in which the company gives a free reusable red cup to customers who buy a holiday themed drink, workers across the country staged walk outs, forcing patrons to miss out on the famed cup.
The choice of day was no lucky coincidence. Red Cup Day has become one of the busiest days of the year for the company, creating the perfect opportunity for Starbucks Workers United to strike.
According to the Starbucks Workers United website, the “Red Cup Rebellion” is a product of years of failed negotiations and stonewalling from the corporation which came to a head in 2025, with the implementations of new policies without any discussions with the union. Some of these policies have been reported as national unfair labor practices, ULP, of which Workers United has filed over 100 in the past year.
However, this strike was not the first effort by Starbucks employees to advocate for themselves. Like much of the continuous conflict, the Red Cup Rebellion is just another drop in the bucket.
According to the Associated Press, over 475,000 workers have participated in 315 strikes in just this year alone. Before September, there were 550 stores that were unionized, though that number has decreased due to the closing of 59 stores as a part of a “larger reorganization campaign.”
Efforts to reach fair labor compensation started in 2021 with the first unionized store in Buffalo, N.Y. and saw enough traction that in 2023, a promise was made by CEO Laxman Narasimhan to reach an agreement by the end of 2024. However, the year concluded not with a resolution to the dispute, but the end of Narasimhan’s position at Starbucks and the introduction of current CEO Brian Niccol.
The implementations were a part of Niccol’s strategy to build a profitable Starbucks for increasingly unhappy shareholders. With an effort to try and bring back a friendly, customer forward environment, policies included a return to a more restrictive dress code and the writing of personal messages on cups. Yet, none of these efforts were discussed with the employees who would have to carry all of the added burden on top of the regular morning rush.
Perhaps the employees might know a better solution to appease customers. Afterall, a little note on a cup is not likely to appease the customers fighting at five in the morning over limited edition merchandise.
Currently, the Starbucks Career Portal brags about perks for employees such as a free Spotify Premium subscription, 30% off drinks, merchandise, and food, over 140 first time bachelor’s degrees from Arizona State University, an array of medical, dental and vision plans, and much more. Yet, considering the strain that employees are under from clock in to clock out, the perks are not quite enough to make up for the lack in wage.
Despite the nationwide press, the shockwaves have not quite reached local branches. The local Starbucks, located just a block away from the front gates of Washington College, has not joined in on the strike, and neither has the Starbucks in Middletown, DE, which is open and busy from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m.
With the threat of potential store closure or the loss of a job, many workers living on the Maryland’s Eastern Shore might not feel as though they are in a place to join the picket line. Despite this strike and countless others throughout the year, the Chestertown Starbucks, not even two years old yet, still sees steady traffic and students walk to class with Starbucks cups in hand.
There might still be hope for even the smallest branch workers if the picket line holds. If there can be a union even in one branch, then there is opportunity for union in all branches.
Photo Caption: Unions at Starbucks locations across the country chose to strike on Red Cup Day to advocate for better pay and conditions.
Photo by Victoria Justen