Chicago Starbucks baristas strike early for national Red Cup Day

Baristas at two unionized Chicago Starbucks went on strike Wednesday, a day ahead of a coordinated nationwide walkout planned to coincide with the coffee giant’s annual Red Cup Day promotion Thursday.

Workers at the Starbucks at 5964 N. Ridge Ave. in Edgewater and 116 S. Halsted St. in Greektown walked off the job Wednesday morning, organizers said. Baristas at the Edgewater store were among the first Starbucks workers in Chicago to unionize in spring 2022; the Greektown store unionized this March.

Baristas at the two stores planned to remain on strike during the national walkout Thursday, organizers said, with additional cafes across Illinois slated to join them.

Teddy Hoffman, a barista at the Edgewater store, said Starbucks doesn’t equip workers with sufficient staffing and resources to keep up with demand during Red Cup Day, an annual holiday promotion during which customers receive a limited-edition reusable red cup.

Baristas then face “a lot of customer dissatisfaction that is focused on the baristas who have no agency in controlling the things that frustrate customers,” said Hoffman, who has worked at Starbucks for about seven years.

“What moves this company is money,” Hoffman said. “If we participate in a direct action that costs them money, that’s what’s getting results.”

Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said in a statement the company was “aware that Workers United has publicized a day of action at a small subset of our U.S. stores this week.”

“We remain committed to working with all partners, side-by-side, to elevate the everyday, and we hope that Workers United’s priorities will shift to include the shared success of our partners and negotiating contracts for those they represent,” he said.

Close to two years since Starbucks workers first unionized with Workers United in Buffalo, New York, no location has bargained a first contract. Workers at more than 360 of the company’s approximately 9,300 U.S. company-owned cafes have voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.

The union has accused the coffee giant of launching a “coordinated, scorched-earth campaign” to stall bargaining. As of last month, National Labor Relations Board officials had issued more than 100 complaints against Starbucks alleging violations of labor law. Administrative law judges have found the company committed violations such as illegally firing baristas for organizing, including in Chicago, and illegally threatening workers. Starbucks has appealed some of the decisions, including the ruling in the Chicago case, Trull said.

A complaint alleging the company has failed to bargain in good faith with the union at cafes across the country — including in Chicago at the Edgewater location — awaits an administrative law judge’s decision, said NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado.

The coffee giant generally denies wrongdoing and says it is the union that has stalled negotiations. Trull said Wednesday that Workers United had not agreed to meet for bargaining with Starbucks in more than four months.

“We again call on Workers United to fulfill their obligations and engage in the work of negotiating first contracts on behalf of the partners they represent,” Trull said.

Last year, baristas at two Chicago Starbucks struck on Red Cup Day, including workers at the Edgewater cafe. According to the union, baristas at more than 100 stores walked out last year.