3 Twin Cities Starbucks stores to strike on Red Cup Day

MINNEAPOLIS — Employees at three Twin Cities Starbucks locations are striking on one of the coffee chain's busiest days of the year.

Workers at the locations on Snelling Avenue in St. Paul, Silver Lake Road in St. Anthony, and Cedar Avenue in south Minneapolis say they will strike on Thursday, the same day as Starbucks' Red Cup Day, an annual event where customers receive free reusable coffee cups. 

Earlier in the fall, unionized workers filed an unfair labor practice over Starbucks' alleged refusal to bargain around promotion days like Red Cup Day, half-off ThursYays, and Buy One Get One Free offers. Workers say the company is scheduling these types of events with increasing frequency, without any additional staffing to cover the influx of orders.

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"On Red Cup Day, drink orders pile up and are abandoned, lines are out the door, and Starbucks workers are left to handle angry customers who have had to wait as much longer than usual for their beverages and food all while trying to make complicated holiday specialty beverages as fast as possible," a press release from Starbucks Workers United said.

Employees are also asking Starbucks to turn off mobile ordering on future promotion days.

Starbucks executives maintain that the union is unwilling to negotiate and have for months declined to meet for contract talks.

The National Labor Relations Board has issued a slew of complaints against Starbucks, but lacks authority to penalize the company in a meaningful way. Starbucks has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

The union says it expects the "Red Cup Rebellion" to draw in students and customers who want the coffee giant to "live up to its progressive values."

Starbucks Workers United represents employees at more than 350 Starbucks stores in the U.S.

NOTE: The video above originally aired March 29, 2023