Does the Starbucks Employees’ Union Support Hamas?

On Oct. 7, 2023, the X (formerly Twitter) account of Starbucks Workers United — a union representing more than 360 locations and 9,000 partners across the U.S. according to its website — retweeted a post depicting a bulldozer tearing down part of the fence surrounding Gaza, captioned “Solidarity with Palestine!” The post was no longer publicly visible on the account page, as of this writing.

Hamas carried out attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, and what ensued in the days and weeks to follow was the declaration of an all-out war by Israel in response to Hamas’ attacks, which had resulted in approximately 1,400 deaths of Israelis (the majority of which occurred on Oct. 7), as reported by official Israeli sources to the UN, and 7,028 Palestinians as of this writing, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Iowa City Starbucks Workers United, representing the first unionized Starbucks in Iowa, also retweeted and shared messaging related to demonstrations in Chicago and Des Moines and statements of solidarity with Palestine from Restaurant Workers United and Workers in Palestine.

It’s important to note that while Starbucks Workers United and Iowa City Starbucks Workers United explicitly expressed solidarity with Palestine, they did not mention Hamas. It’s also important to note that these unions are entities separate from Starbucks Corporation.

On Oct. 11, Starbucks Corporation responded, saying:

On Oct. 17, Sara Kelly, executive vice president and chief partner officer of Starbucks, additionally stated:

On Oct. 18, Starbucks Corporation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Eastern Division against both Starbucks Workers United and Iowa City Starbucks Workers United, as well as Service Employees International Union and Workers United for their “inflammatory and misleading” communications concerning the union’s “social media posts in support of violence in Israel starting immediately after reports emerged that Hamas had attacked civilians in Israel,” according to the filed complaint.

(Document via Pacer)

“Such messages, as captured by the posts above, do not, and have never, reflected Starbucks official position,” reads the complaint on page 28.

The company asserted that the union’s actions had spurred property damage, threats, and calls for a boycott; however, the official basis of the lawsuit rests on trademark dilution and infringement. It continues:

On Oct. 20, Starbucks Workers United posted a statement reaffirming its solidarity with Palestine on its X and Instagram (jointly posted with Jewish Voice for Peace) accounts. The first part of the statement read as follows:

The statement continues by addressing Starbucks’ lawsuit directly:

The post had received 137,848 likes on Instagram and 3.2 million views on X at the time of this writing.

In sum, Starbucks Workers United has not explicitly expressed public support for Hamas, though it did express support for Palestine. This position is not shared by Starbucks Corporation.

Sources