December 2021
First Union Election
Starbucks baristas win their first union election.
Starbucks baristas win their first union election.
Baristas at over 200 union stores participate in Red Cup Day strikes as part of the “Red Cup Rebellion” as Starbucks’ challenges grow.
Starbucks and Workers United announce a path forward, heralded as an historic breakthrough. Starbucks and Workers United commit to negotiating a foundational framework for contracts, establishing a fair process for organizing, and resolving outstanding legal issues.
Starbucks and Workers United convene the first bargaining session.
Starbucks and Workers United continue to meet monthly for multi-day, in-person bargaining sessions, making steady progress on non-economic issues.
Brian Niccol officially takes the helm on September 9, the same month union bargaining delegates put forth a set of economic proposals for negotiation.
Baristas win their union election at the 500th Starbucks store. Monthly bargaining continues. Starbucks does not bring economic proposals or counters to the table.
Starbucks backtracks on the agreed-upon path forward and fails to put forth serious economic proposals. Workers United files a major ULP charge alleging Starbucks is failing to bargain in good faith and undermining the representative status of the union.
More than 5,000 baristas wage the largest-ever ULP “Strike Before Christmas” in Starbucks’ history, as Starbucks breaks promise to reach union contracts by EOY 2024.
Workers United files over 90 new, federal ULP charges against Starbucks for union busting.
One year after bargaining began, more than 500 union delegates voted to reject a foundational framework package that included Starbucks' latest economic proposals, which failed to improve wages or benefits in the first year of the contract and didn’t put forth proposals to address chronic understaffing.
Baristas win their union election at the 600th location, joining 12,000 union baristas and growing.
For six months, Starbucks refused to put forth new proposals to meet barista demands on pay, hours, and scheduling. On November 13, 2025—Red Cup Day—union baristas launched a nationwide unfair labor practice strike to protest Starbucks’ unresolved unfair labor practices and the company’s stonewalling of progress toward a fair contract. The strike rapidly expanded to approximately 4,500 workers across more than 130 cities and became the longest nationwide strike in company history.
Union baristas presented a fair, reasonable and complete contract package to Starbucks that raises wages for the lowest-paid workers, improves workplace protections, and guarantees more hours for the baristas who are key to Starbucks’ success.
Workers United and Starbucks are preparing to return to the bargaining table in April.
A fair contract is not only possible, but within reach as long as executives are committed to good-faith bargaining and supporting the baristas who are key to Starbucks’ success. Union baristas are united. Starbucks knows where we stand. It’s time to get a fair contract done so we can all move forward.