Starbucks workers to bosses: ‘No contract, no coffee!’

Cleveland

Members and supporters of Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) held a “practice picket” outside the University Circle coffee shop in Cleveland on Nov. 1. SBWU has been holding practice pickets across the country since September and began a strike authorization vote on Oct. 24. On Nov. 5 the union announced that a strike was approved with 92% support from members who voted, and that the strike would begin Nov. 13 if a contract is not finalized.

Practice picket outside a Cleveland Starbucks store, Nov. 1, 2025. WW Photo: Martha Grevatt

Workers carried signs reading “No contract, no coffee!” A popular chant was: “What’s disgusting? Union busting! What’s outrageous? What they pay us! What’s appalling? Bosses stalling!”

SBWU accuses Starbucks bosses of stalling in contract negotiations that began in April 2024. The company has not agreed to key union demands for an adequate standard of living through higher wages and more working hours, along with the resolution of numerous Unfair Labor Practice charges filed by the union.

Speakers at the demonstration included representatives of Workers United, Ohio state AFL-CIO, the North Shore Labor Federation and the union at Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, which is affiliated with Service Employees Union 1199.

SBWU won its first union election in Buffalo, New York, in 2021 and now represents about 12,000 workers at over 650 stores. Unionized Starbucks workers may all be on strike later this year if the company won’t agree to their just demands.

As Shay, SBWU barista and elected bargaining delegate, told this writer, “We are showing the company that their workers nationwide are ready to stand up for what we deserve — fair schedules, wages and health care for trans workers under attack.”