Another Massive Starbucks Strike Is About To Happen. Here's What We Know

It's been one month since more than 2,000 Starbucks workers went on strike to demand cooperation in contract negotiation meetings regarding union representation with Workers United. "We're done with their anti-union retaliation and them walking away from bargaining," pro-union worker Tyler Keeling told CNN at a protest in Lakewood, California. The strike, which took place across 112 stores nationwide, per CNN, culminated on the coffee chain's annual Red Cup Day — a symbolic move to "call attention to anti-union activities" at the corporate level, per Keeling. 

In September, upon the release of a public letter from the company addressed to employees at 234 pro-union stores, Starbucks HQ seemed ready to loosen its grip on unions. "We look forward to these negotiations and hopefully setting dates and securing locations for contract bargaining," reads the statement. Come October, those meetings got off to a shaky start as Starbucks representatives walked out of five sessions with union members, Vice reports. 

Two months later, even after November's strike, the waters are still rough. This week, per QSR, more than 1,000 Starbucks workers across 110 stores are gearing up for a three-day strike. Here's what we know.

There have been plenty of demonstrations among pro-union Starbucks workers since the first outpost of the coffee giant voted to unionize back in 2021. But starting Friday, December 16, droves of workers at 100 stores across the country are clocking out for "the longest in the year-old unionization campaign," says AP News. Like last month's strike, workers are protesting their corporate employers continued resistance to union contracts. 

According to CNN, this month's strike is also a condemnation of "unfair labor practices," such as the sudden closures of pro-union stores. "We're demanding fair staffing, an end to store closures, and that Starbucks bargain with us in good faith," pro-union barista Michelle Eisen told the outlet. Tori Tambellini, a former shift supervisor who was fired from her Pittsburgh outpost last year for union activity, agrees with this sentiment. She told AP News that she's protesting her former employer's "scorched earth method of union busting."