OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
2:02 PM – Saturday, November 15, 2025
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani encouraged his social media followers to join him in boycotting Starbucks coffee shops during a union strike across the United States.
“Starbucks workers across the country are on an Unfair Labor Practices strike, fighting for a fair contract,” Mamdani posted to X on Thursday. “While workers are on strike, I won’t be buying any Starbucks, and I’m asking you to join us.”
He added, “Together, we can send a powerful message: No contract, no coffee.”
The future New York City mayor attached a post from Starbucks Workers United from Thursday announcing, “As of today, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE,” and noting their willingness “for this to become the biggest and longest ULP (unfair labor practice) in Starbucks history.”
The Starbucks union account included an image with their call-to-action: “Don’t buy Starbucks! At any location, today & beyond, while workers are on ULP strike!”
Thursday marked Starbucks’ annual “Red Cup Day,” an event included in the company’s holiday promotions in which customers can get a free seasonal red cup with their purchase. This date was also the deadline for Starbucks to agree to a new contractual agreement proposed by union baristas, who began negotiations in February 2024.
When no agreement was reached, Starbucks workers from 41 cities across the country launched what they call “Red Cup Rebellion.”
“With no set end date to the strike, baristas across more than 550 current union stores are prepared to continue escalating to make this the largest, longest strike in company history if Starbucks fails to deliver a fair union contract and resolve unfair labor practice charges,” a union statement reads, according to USA Today.
Starbucks Workers United is supported by the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), a group that campaigned for Mamdani, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.
In a group video call discussing the launch of the “Red Cup Rebellion,” an NYC-DSA Labor Co-Chair named Olivia said, “This is our next thing, right? After we got Zohran elected mayor, we’re going to get out there and show our support for our siblings in Starbucks Workers United and get out there on the picket line.”
Starbucks said that about 99.9% of its locations remained open when the strike began.
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another self-identified Democratic socialist, came out in support of the open-ended strike.
“I stand in solidarity with the Starbucks workers on strike,” he posted on X Saturday. “When a corporation can pay $96 million to its CEO for just four months of work, it can afford to pay its workers a living wage and decent benefits.”
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