Starbucks workers in Madison are striking today from 5 a.m.–2 p.m., joining the coast-to-coast “Red Cup Rebellion” and demanding the coffee giant stop illegally refusing to bargain with baristas over staffing, scheduling, and other issues. The strike comes on Red Cup Day, when the company hands out tens of thousands of free reusable cups, one of its busiest customer traffic days of the year.
As part of the strike, workers will demand Starbucks turn off mobile ordering on future promotion days, which company executives are scheduling with increasing frequency.
Workers earlier this fall filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board over Starbucks’ refusal to bargain around promotion days. Promotion days like Red Cup Day, half-off ThursYays, and Buy One Get One Free offers cause a flood of customers to stores, without additional staffing to cover the influx in orders.
