Local baristas are participating in a one-day strike Thursday at several Pittsburgh-area Starbucks stores.
Unionized workers at six Starbucks located in the city of Pittsburgh and Bethel Park are striking as part of the national Red Cup Rebellion movement. The day of action coincides with one of the coffee giant’s busiest days of the year, Red Cup Day, when the company hands out tens of thousands of free reusable cups, according to a press release.
Sarah Tucker, a member of the Pittsburgh Starbucks Organizing Committee, said in a statement that the day is about reminding customers about the baristas’ working conditions and struggles to get Starbucks to bargain with the unions.
“We are withholding our labor and using the opportunity to connect with Starbucks customers as we build a coalition of partners and customers who stand against the company’s disrespect,” said Tucker.
Workers at the stores below are striking:
- Amos Hall, 4022 Fifth Ave. in Oakland
- Bloomfield, 4765 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield
- Craig Street, 425 S Craig St. in Oakland
- Eastside, 5932 Penn Circle in Shadyside
- Liberty & Baum, 5310 Liberty Ave. in Bloomfield
- South Hills Village Mall, 301 South Hills Village in Bethel Park
The Bloomfield store was closed Thursday morning, with a sign in the window saying the closure was temporary.
There are 16 Starbucks stores in the Pittsburgh area that have unionized, among the most of any metro area in the country, according to labor rights group More Perfect Union. Since 2021, at least 363 company-operated Starbucks stores in 41 states have voted to unionize.
Starbucks workers have said the company is understaffing stores and they are asking for higher wages and more consistent schedules.
The company has downplayed the impact of the strike, noting there are more than 9,600 total company-owned stores across the country. A statement from Starbucks said it is “committed to working with all partners, side-by-side.”
The local strikers join workers at more than 200 U.S. Starbucks in walking off the job. The Workers United union said it was expecting more than 5,000 workers nationally to picket for part of the day and visit non-union stores the rest of the day.
Thursday’s strike was the fifth major labor action by Starbucks workers since a store in Buffalo, N.Y., became the first to unionize in late 2021. Workers at 110 stores walked out last year on Red Cup Day; most recently, a strike in June protested reports that Starbucks had removed Pride displays from its stores.
But the strikes have had little impact on Starbucks’ sales. For its 2023 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 1, Starbucks reported its revenue rose 12%,to a record $36.0 billion.
Starbucks said Thursday that many of the stores with striking workers remained open.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Ryan Deto is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Ryan by email at rdeto@triblive.com or via Twitter .