No Contract, No Coffee: worker upsurge, corporate resistance, and the long fight to unionize Starbucks

In November 2025, Starbucks Workers United launched a “Red Cup Rebellion” across the U.S. Expanding to 130 cities, the strike represented the biggest bout of industrial action at Starbucks since the company’s foundation (1971). At the time, reporting linked the walkout to the post-2021 unionization drive, originating in Buffalo. By November 2025, Starbucks workers had won over 650 elections, but the company had still not signed a contract, precipitating the strike. This article reviews the long fight to organize Starbucks and the strike, locating both within broader labor trends. It argues that the Starbucks story was not entirely new; rather, it illustrated how declining labor conditions since the 1980s produced a strong desire for unionization. Retail and service sector workers, with low wages and weak benefits, led the way. Starbucks also epitomized the rise in corporate resistance to organized labor, a feature of the post-1970 era. In addition to press and labor board records, this article uses detailed primary accounts by former Buffalo barista Jaz Brisack and three-time CEO Howard Schultz to examine these contrasting themes of workplace organization and corporate resistance. Overall, the Starbucks’ struggle epitomized the difficulties U.S. workers have long faced in turning organizing victories into contracts.