Starbucks unionized workers plan strike on Red Cup Day

Thousands of unionized Starbucks employees are expected to strike Thursday, accusing the coffee chain of refusing to fairly negotiate at cafes that voted to organize, KIRO-TV reported.

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The walkout is scheduled to fall on the coffee chain’s annual Red Cup Day, when Starbucks gives customers a collectible, reusable red cup free with the purchase of a holiday beverage. The Starbucks Workers United union called the day “Starbucks’s biggest sales event.”

In a statement obtained by Reuters, Starbucks said it was aware of the planned strikes “at a small subset of our U.S. stores.”

“Workers United hasn’t agreed to meet to progress contract bargaining in more than four months and has yet to deliver on the campaign promises they’ve made,” the statement read.

Starbucks employees told Bloomberg News that the company has refused to negotiate staffing and scheduling issues, among other things, in good faith. The union called Red Cup Day “one of the most infamously hard, understaffed days for the baristas that work them.”

“Starbucks has made it clear that they won’t listen to workers, so we’re advocating for ourselves by going on strike,” Oklahoma City employee Neha Cremin told Bloomberg in an emailed statement.

Last year, members of Starbucks Workers United picketed outside more than 100 stores on Red Cup Day.

More than 360 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, and Starbucks Workers United has more than 9,000 members, according to its website.

Six Pittsburgh area unionized Starbucks will participate in the strike.

The stores will demand that Starbucks turn off mobile ordering on future promotion days, which they claim are being scheduled with increasing frequency.

The six locations striking Thursday are:

- Amos Hall, 4022 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

- Bloomfield, 4765 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224

- Craig Street, 425 S Craig St, Pittsburgh, PA 15213

- Eastside, 5932 Penn Cir, Pittsburgh, PA 15206

- Liberty & Baum, 5310 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15224

- South Hills Village Mall, 301 S Hills Village, Bethel Park, PA 15241