Starbucks Workers United escalates strike during busy holiday season
Source: CNBC
One week into what baristas have threatened to make the “largest, longest” strike in Starbucks’ history, the Workers United union said it is adding more than two dozen new cities and stores to its strike count.
The union said Thursday it will now be striking at 95 stores in 65 cities, with some 2,000 baristas now engaged in the action. On Wednesday, baristas and allies also picketed and held a rally outside of the company’s distribution center in York, Pa. Starbucks said there were no disruptions to its operations in York.
Workers United said the majority of stores where strikes were held had to close down on the first day of the strike due to staffing issues, and the lack of workers impacted some 50 locations in the days to follow. Starbucks said stores that had issues were often able to reopen quickly and that less than 1% of its locations are experiencing disruption from the strike.
The strike has so far not appeared to dent foot traffic and sales, according to the company and data from Placer.ai. The location intelligence tracking firm’s data show foot traffic on Red Cup Day, when the strike was launched, was up 44.5% compared to the daily average between Jan. 1 and Nov. 14 this year.
Starbucks workers walk a picket line as they go on strike outside a Starbucks store on Nov. 13, 2025 in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
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