Catherwood LibraryILR School

Thousands of unionized Starbucks workers around the United States will be going on an all-day strike this week to protest against the company’s refusal to acknowledge and bargain with unionized workers and the Starbucks Workers Union. The strike will occur on “Red Cup Day”, one of Starbucks’ biggest promotional days, where customers receive a free red reusable cup with purchases. Unionized workers are calling the strike action the “Red Cup rebellion”. Workers are demanding for Starbucks to close mobile ordering on promotional days because promotional days attract more customers than usual but no extra staff is provided to help with the additional workload. Starbucks employees stated that they cannot balance mobile orders, drive-thru orders, delivery orders, and in-store orders on these days without more workers. Workers who are walking off will be going to non-unionized Starbucks stores near them to encourage them to join the union.