Starbucks baristas picket Indiana Avenue store as national strike expands

Staff report

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — November 28, 2025

Starbucks workers and supporters picketed outside the company’s Indiana Avenue store across from Indiana University on Friday morning as the shop joined a growing national unfair labor practice strike.

Several people on the line said they work as baristas at the store, which was closed during the action. A worker was seen shutting the doors and leaving as picketers gathered with handmade signs reading “Baristas on strike,” “No contract, no coffee,” and “Don’t cross our picket line.” Chalk on the sidewalk in front of the entrance spelled out “Solidarity.”

The demonstration was organized by Starbucks Workers United and local supporters, including members of Bloomington Democratic Socialists of America. In a post on Instagram, Bloomington DSA said Starbucks workers here are joining a national ULP strike over what the union calls the company’s “historic union busting and failure to finalize a fair union contract.”

“Workers deserve better hours, fair pay, and an end to unfair labor practices,” the Bloomington DSA post said, urging customers not to buy Starbucks coffee during the strike and to sign a “No Contract, No Coffee” pledge at nocontractnocoffee.org.

According to Starbucks Workers United, Friday’s action in Bloomington is part of the “Red Cup Rebellion,” an open-ended ULP strike that began Nov. 13 on Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day promotion. The union says 2,500 baristas at more than 120 stores in 85 cities are now participating, making it the longest ULP strike in the company’s history. Newly added locations include stores in Bloomington and Indianapolis, as well as cities across California, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin, the union said.

Union leaders say they are seeking a first contract covering issues such as staffing, scheduling, pay and the resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice complaints. Starbucks Workers United says the National Labor Relations Board and administrative law judges have found the company committed more than 400 labor law violations, and that more than 650 ULP charges remain unresolved nationwide.

“It’s time for Starbucks executives to stop stalling,” Michelle Eisen, a spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United and a 15-year barista, said in a recent union statement. “We need real solutions that address our basic demands and the hundreds of labor law violations that remain outstanding.”

Starbucks has disputed the union’s portrayal of the dispute and has said it wants to reach agreements with workers.

In a statement to CNBC last week, Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said less than 1% of the company’s roughly 17,000 U.S. locations are experiencing disruption from the strike and that “99% of our locations remain open and welcoming customers.” Anderson said Starbucks is ready to negotiate and that “the facts are clear, Starbucks offers the best job in retail, with pay and benefits averaging $30 per hour for hourly partners,” adding that the company’s turnover is less than half the industry average and it receives more than a million job applications each year.

The union began organizing Starbucks stores in 2021 and says it now represents about 11,000 workers at more than 550 stores nationwide. The company told CNBC it believes the union represents closer to 9,500 workers.

On Indiana Avenue on Friday, picketers handed out flyers reading “No Contract, No Coffee” and “Stop buying Starbucks while baristas are on strike,” and encouraged passing drivers and pedestrians to honor the line. Organizers said they planned to continue picketing outside the Bloomington store from 8 a.m. to noon daily as the national strike continues.

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