In a brewing controversy, the Starbucks Workers Union is calling for a nationwide walkout during this year’s Red Cup Day, branding it a “Red Cup Rebellion.”
The union, representing thousands of employees across hundreds of stores, asserts that Starbucks has been unlawfully denying baristas the right to negotiate on staffing, scheduling, and other pressing concerns.
According to a news release from the union on Monday, workers will demand the coffee company “stop illegally refusing to bargain with baristas over staffing, scheduling and other issues.”
Starbuck’s Red Cup Day promotion traditionally distributes free reusable 16 oz. red cups mimicking their holiday cups to customers who purchase handcrafted fall or holiday beverages, making it one of their busiest days of the year.
According to the news release, workers earlier this fall filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over Starbucks’ refusal to bargain around promotion days.
“Promotion days like Red Cup Day, half-off ThursYays and Buy One Get One Free offers cause a flood of customers to stores without any additional staffing to cover the influx of orders,” the union said in the release.
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“Starbucks workers can’t keep working with such short staffing,” said Neha Cremin, a barista in Oklahoma City.
“At my store, we’re expected to make drive-thru orders, walk-up orders, mobile orders, and delivery orders. This is difficult enough to manage with a fully-staffed floor, but we’re often expected to manage all these things with only three workers,” said Cremin in the news release.
The planned walkout comes on the heels of Starbuck’s announcing wage and benefit increases for most employees last week.
Beginning January 1, eligible U.S. hourly workers will receive at least a 3% incremental pay increase; employees with two to five years of service will receive at least a 4% increase, and employees with five years or more will get at least 5%, according to the company.
However Starbucks warned that these pay increases and benefits may not be “unilaterally implemented” for unionized stores.
Meanwhile, the union plans to extend promote their efforts by visiting non-unionized stores during the “Red Cup Rebellion to encourage more colleagues to join their cause.
Red Cup Day will be Thursday, November 16. The walkout will likely only impact unionized Starbucks stores.
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