About a dozen Starbucks workers and community members held a strike outside the chain’s College Park location on Thursday to protest unfair labor practices and call for a new contract.
The protest was part of a nationwide strike known as the Red Cup Rebellion, which consists of more than 3,800 baristas from about 180 stores. The larger movement began on Nov. 13, Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when customers get a free reusable red cup when they purchase a holiday beverage.
Josie Cloutier, a barista trainer and College Park strike’s captain, said the store’s baristas are demanding that Starbucks sign a contract with the Starbucks Workers United union that will increase pay and improve working conditions.
Cloutier, who has worked at the store for three and a half years, said the work environment changed after Brian Niccol took over as Starbucks’ CEO in September 2024. Baristas are now required to wear black shirts and blue or black pants to work, which limits their self-expression, she said. Employees’ job description has also changed, Cloutier added.
“It no longer feels like we’re working in a coffee house, but more of a fast food environment,” the senior public health science major said. “So a lot of the reasons why I first came to the company are no longer true.”
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Chris Cortijo, who also works as a barista and strike captain, said the striking employees want Starbucks to see that it should treat its workers better and “come to the table” to reach a compromise with the union.
A Starbucks spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Diamondback that 99 percent of its 17,000 locations remain open.
“Regardless of the union’s plans, we do not anticipate any meaningful disruption,” the statement read. “When the union is ready to return to the bargaining table, we’re ready to talk.”
A similar strike occurred at the College Park Starbucks in May, The Diamondback previously reported. The workers were protesting the store’s new dress code, unjust firings and calling for better hours and wages.
Cortijo said students can support the union by boycotting Starbucks products or by not installing its app.
Cloutier encouraged students to study at and purchase goods from local coffee shops while baristas remain without a new contract.
“We’ve been clear during all of our bargaining sessions,” Cloutier said. “It’’s really up to the company at this point to make these changes for us.”
Deputy news editor Mayah Nachman contributed to this story.
