Facing unprecedented labor violations, Starbucks workers overwhelmingly agree to strike indefinitely

MICHELLE EISEN: Yes, thanks so much for having me. Last week, we announced that 92% of union workers voted to authorize a strike, should the company not respond to our multiple requests for them to return to the bargaining table with new proposals that will address the outstanding issues; mainly more take-home pay for workers, better hours to fix the chronic understaffing in our stores and to resolve the — you said it — hundreds of unresolved unfair labor practice charges that are still hanging over their heads.

It’s hard to be a worker working in those conditions, when you actually have to be afraid of your employer continually violating your rights.

Red Cup Day is, at least from the company’s own mouth, their biggest revenue day of the year. Workers don’t want to have to go on strike. A strike is a hardship. Workers are laying a lot on the line if they have to embark on this, but their hands are being forced. The company is not offering another option, and so we do what we can do. The power that we hold is our labor, is our ability to produce these billions of dollars of revenue that the company reports every single year. We’ll see what happens come Thursday morning.

ALVAREZ: It sounds like the strike isn’t hinging on some nitpicky details on a couple proposals. It sounds like Starbucks isn’t responding to any of these proposals.

EISEN: The last offer — and I’m hesitant to even call it an offer — that came from their side when it came to the economic elements of the contract, was nothing. They said, ​“Our reply is zero increase for the first year of the contract.”

That’s an unserious response to what is going on here, and what we’re engaging in is very serious. It is the difference between a worker being able to pay their rent and buy groceries, or having to make the choice between the two.

This is a multi-billion dollar global corporation. We paid our CEO $98 million for the first four months of his employment with this company. They spent $81 million for a four-day manager’s retreat in Vegas just this June. It would cost less than both of those numbers to finalize a multi-year union contract with their union baristas, less than a single day’s profit.

ALVAREZ: As I mentioned in the intro you were there in Buffalo with the first store to unionize back in 2021, and we were covering that as it was happening. Can you take us back to that union drive in Buffalo and remind us where that push came from?

EISEN: Absolutely. So, I started with Starbucks in 2010, which feels like an actual lifetime ago.

It was a cool gig, and then things — as I think they do in any sort of capitalist society — they start to slide. We saw staffing levels go down, we saw the responsibilities of each worker increase and the compensation for the most part stay stagnant.

Not only did we find ourselves in that exact place, but we found ourselves in that place in the middle of a global pandemic. We saw policies being rolled out that workers in these stores were expected to carry out without any input from us, and they were rapid fire. For me, that was the kicker.

In the meantime, they’re raking in profits. These things are not computing. My first instinct was to get the hell out of there. Then, I was approached by a co-worker about, ​“Hey, what if we unionize?” So, we decided to try.

A lot of those charges that you refer to at the beginning of this took place in that first three months of the campaign. You name it. There were threats, there were bribes, there were all of the things that you would think there would be.

Somehow we pulled it out. As soon as it was seen that it was possible, then we had thousands of Starbucks workers saying, ​“These issues exist in our stores, and we want to be a part of this.” Since then, we have won over 650 elections, somewhere in the realm of 12,000 unionized baristas, 45 states and DC.

The company has closed some locations. They announced that big mass closure just last month, which did affect some of our stores, which is very disappointing.

ALVAREZ: With a National Labor Relations Board under the second Trump administration, there seems to be a newfound confidence in the employer class in the form of mass layoffs, everyone gloating about how they’re going to replace us all with AI and raking in profits while working people are standing in food lines. I know Starbucks has not been great up until this point, but is it possible that they’ve gotten even worse with the new NLRB that we have in 2025?

EISEN: Corporations are absolutely emboldened right now, and Starbucks is absolutely one of them. The current policies that have rolled out under this new CEO have actually only made workers’ jobs more difficult. In most states, the starting rate for a Starbucks barista is $15 an hour, and most Starbucks workers struggle to get more than 19 hours a week.

Right now, things are probably as bad as they’ve ever been in the country for the majority of workers, but it’s galvanized most workers. Why? Because workers understand that they’re setting a path that’s going to change the lives of workers beyond them. If that’s not hopeful in this very dark time, I don’t know what is.

ALVAREZ: Preach sis, I agree. I want to impress upon people listening out there what the working conditions are in Starbucks stores today. Have they changed much from the time when you were unionizing in Buffalo?

In the past 10 years, conditions have visibly changed, not only for workers, but for consumers. Every business in corporate America is trying to sell us a version of reality that does not sync up with our experienced reality. The one that always cracks me up are these artisan-coded Chipotle commercials where they’re like, ​“Oh, we make everything fresh, and it’s all there for you,” and I’m like, ​“Motherfucker, have you been to a Chipotle in the past few years? It’s like two stressed out people, half the menu isn’t available and everybody’s pissed off.”

EISEN: I think it’s comical that you use Chipotle as the example. Our current CEO was the former CEO of Chipotle.

So, it’s not shocking that you are going to walk into a Starbucks right now and it’s going to feel like walking into a Chipotle that serves lattes. As a consumer, you should be insulted.

The reality is, once upon a time that environment did exist. I lived it. The stores were staffed appropriately. I used to lead coffee tastings in the lobby all of the time with customers. Me being off the floor for 10 minutes didn’t completely tank the entire shift, which is what happens right now if a worker, God forbid, gets sick. Right now the conditions are worse than they were when we organized in 2021, and that seems incredibly hard to believe because they were pretty damn bad in 2021.

ALVAREZ: Let’s bring folks back down to the picket line level. What can they expect to see this week?

EISEN: So, there’s a few things. First, you can go to nocon​tract​no​cof​fee​.org. You can sign our pledge that says you will not cross the picket line, and you will not spend your money at Starbucks while workers are on strike. That’s number one.

Don’t buy teachers Starbucks gift cards. Think outside the box when you want to get gifts. Don’t cross the picket line. In fact, join the picket line. Our picket lines are pretty exciting and notoriously pretty fun. We would love to have you on that picket line.

Don’t shop at Starbucks. That’s the strongest message you can send.

If you see workers on strike, throw them your support. Honk your horn. Wave. Let them know that you’re standing behind them. You would be shocked at how far that knowledge can go for the mentality of workers. It’s going to be a long time during the holidays when people are sacrificing time with their families to be out there on the picket line. Showing them that customers, consumers and their communities are behind them on this and willing to stand with them goes a very, very long way.

This episode of the Working People Podcast was originally published on November 13.