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Starbucks workers at over 110 locations across the U.S. are planning strikes or walkouts on Thursday to protest working conditions, pay, and the company’s alleged actions to discourage unionization efforts, according to a labor group representing thousands of Starbucks employees.
The walkouts are said to be the “biggest coordinated national action taken by union Starbucks stores in the campaign’s history,” with dozens of unionized locations among those where employees will be picketing, per a press release from Starbucks Workers United.
The walkouts also coincide with Red Cup Day, a holiday-based promotion during which Starbucks provides red reusable cups to customers who make qualifying purchases.
In protest, workers at stores with strikes or planned walkouts will be hosting their own “Red Cup Rebellion,” as they’re calling it, to send a message to the company concerning its stance on benefits and unionization.
“You cannot be pro-LGTBQ, pro-BLM, pro-sustainability, and anti-union. This Red Cup Day, we’re organizing for a voice on the job and a true seat at the table,” said Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks employee from Buffalo, New York, in the press release.
