For the past two months, Starbucks baristas have been at the center of the largest labor fight in their company’s history. Since November 13, thousands of unionized workers have walked off the job at roughly forty-five store locations nationwide, in an unfair labor practices strike they’re calling the “Red Cup Rebellion.” The employees allege that Starbucks management has failed to finalize a fair union contract and engaged in union busting tactics, such as firing a group of workers known as the Memphis 7 for their organizing activities in 2022.
The origins of this upheaval stretch back to 2021, when workers at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, banded together in response to issues including low wages and short-staffing , eventually unionizing under the banner of Starbucks Workers United (SBWU). Today, SBWU represents at least 660 of the more than 16,000 stores currently operating nationwide, with employees at other stores in the process of unionizing their locations.
Union members across the country have accused Starbucks of chronically understaffing stores, reducing employees’ work hours, and offering unpredictable schedules, among other issues. Contract negotiations between SBWU and Starbucks management began in 2024; though Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol promised to “engage constructively and in good faith with the union” when he was appointed to the role in September 2024, progress on a final contract has since ground to a halt. SBWU has filed more than 1,000 unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), accusing Starbucks of deliberately stalling negotiations and retaliating against union supporters.
On the first day of the strike, more than 1,000 unionized baristas at sixty-five locations walked off the job, hoping to deflate sales on the company’s “Red Cup Day”—an annual day-long promotion that is typically one of the company’s most profitable—in a powerful display of collective power. Additional unionized stores have since joined the strike: SBWU reports that by December 11, roughly 3,800 baristas were striking across 180 stores in 150 cities nationwide. SBWU says its strike is open-ended, meaning that no end date will be set until Starbucks returns to the bargaining table in good faith to deliver a fair contract, address unfair labor practices, and end its union-busting tactics. SBWU’s core contract demands include guarantees for fair and stable scheduling, higher take-home pay, and a binding contract that protects workers from retaliatory discipline.
On December 11, I spoke with baristas on strike at a store in River Ridge, Louisiana, a small suburb of New Orleans. At the time, the store was the only striking Starbucks location in the entire state. Just two days after I visited the store, it closed temporarily as a result of the strike, but had reopened as of December 26. On December 20, when I returned to join the workers on the picket line, they were in high spirits, their determination seemingly fueled by support from passing drivers honking their horns in solidarity.
Jason Kerzinski
A sign on the door of the Starbucks store in River Ridge, Louisiana, which temporarily closed in December.
Krista Hanson, a barista and SBWU strike captain, told me she feels “really good” about the impact of the Red Cup Rebellion. “We’re standing up for ourselves and our partners all around the country,” Hanson said. “We’re fighting for a better company, for us and for customers. If I could say anything to the CEO, I would just tell him that we want a better company for everybody. We want better quality of ingredients, better equipment for us to work with. We have broken equipment that we work with every single day, and they have such high standards that we want to meet but can’t because of the things they give us. We want a better company for all of us, and that is all we are fighting for.”
Since joining Starbucks, Niccol, who previously served as CEO of Chipotle, has implemented a sweeping restructuring plan dubbed “Back to Starbucks.” As part of the restructuring, Starbucks has closed hundreds of stores it claims were underperforming, including fifty-nine unionized stores across the country as of the end of September 2025. Of the five stores that have unionized in Louisiana, two have been closed by the company, leaving only the River Ridge, Sulphur, and Baton Rouge locations.
Despite the strife caused by Starbucks’s union busting tactics, workers say they are more determined than ever. “It is super exciting to see everyone working together to get a better workplace for ourselves,” a barista and strike captain named Laine Arendt told me, “as well as hopefully better workplaces for everywhere else.”
SBWU’s fight for a fair contract is far from over—workers remain on strike at dozens of locations, including at the River Ridge store in Louisiana, and union leaders say they are prepared to expand the strike if necessary. At River Ridge, and across the country, SBWU workers remain steadfast in their commitment to unionization, no matter how insurmountable the odds may seem.