Zohran Mamdani is doing his bit by boycotting Starbucks after about 1,000 baristas launched strikes across the United States.
Thursday in the US was Red Cup Day, which, in turn, is the biggest sales day of the year for the coffee giant. Instead of shaping up to be one of the most profitable days ahead of peak holiday season, this particular day ended up beckoning the worst-possible scenario for the chain. Launching an open-ended strike across over 40 cities in America, more than 1,000 baristas in over 65 stores decided to protest the lack of progress in labour negotiations with the coffee behemoth.
Zohran Mamdani stands with Starbucks Workers United
The Starbucks Workers United’s big decision found significant momentum as the freshly victorious New York City mayor-elect issued a firm call to action, urging consumers to cut ties from the popular company.
“Starbucks workers across the country are on an Unfair Labor Practices strike, fighting for a fair contract,” he wrote on X, re-posting the original strike announcement shared by unionised Starbucks employees.
Indian-origin Zohran Mamdani further asserted that he wouldn’t be buying anything Starbucks-related as long as the workers continue to be on strike. He even urged others to join him, saying, “Together, we can send a powerful message: No contract, no coffee.”
Starbucks workers across the country are on an Unfair Labor Practices strike, fighting for a fair contract.
— Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) November 14, 2025
While workers are on strike, I won’t be buying any Starbucks, and I’m asking you to join us.
Together, we can send a powerful message: No contract, no coffee. https://t.co/Cw0WMf2hVW
Starbucks Workers United, on its part, announced it was prepared for the recently launched protest to become “the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.”
Despite Mamdani’s public social media call-out, Starbucks said the strike staring on Thursday was expected to impact lesser than 1% of its thousands of shops. “The day is off to an incredible start – based on what we’ve seen this morning, we’re on track to exceed our sales expectations for the day across company-operated coffeehouses in North America,” Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson told CNBC.
What do Starbucks workers want?
In an official press release published on the union’s website, a barista of 5 years from the Amos Hall location in Pittsburgh, detailed that the employees’ walk-out sought to challenge “Starbucks’ refusal to settle a fair union contract and end union busting.” They further highlighted that they had resorted to drastic action while demanding a fair union contract, resolution of unfair labour practicised and a better future at the chain.
Calling Starbucks the “biggest violator of labour law in modern history,” the union said Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the coffee chain had committed over 400 labour law violations.
In the simplest of words, workers’ current strikes have been fuelled by Starbucks’ inaction to reach a contracy agreement with the union. With employees first unionising at a Buffalo sore in 2021, Starbucks promised to chalk up an agreement by the end of 2024 in a December 2023 decision. Negotiations have been at a standstill since April 2025.
Workers’ biggest demands primarily remain better hours. Employees have even asked for more staffing at locations where long customer wait times are the norm, according to Associated Press. They’ve also made it a point to call out top executives making millions of dollars, while they fail to raise workers’ pay.
