After voting overwhelmingly to go on strike if needed to secure a fair union contract, baristas at one of Central Florida’s only unionized Starbucks locations in Oviedo have joined a national strike that began last month, as part of a pressure campaign to get Starbucks to agree to their demands.
Workers at other stores, unionized with Starbucks Workers United have gradually joined the strike, leveraging an escalation strategy used by the United Auto Workers union during their “Stand Up” strike against automakers Ford, General Motors and Stellantis in 2023.
“If we get a good contract, that sets a standard that other stores can look at and go, ‘This is better than what the store — this company that says it’s progressive — is offering,’” said Clay Blastic, a local Starbucks barista of more than 10 years. Blastic, a union leader at his store, told Orlando Weekly that they’re fighting for a union contract with Starbucks that not only lifts up the wages and working conditions of unionized baristas, but sets higher standards for others, too.
“A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say,” he said. Starbucks workers at the 305 E. Mitchell Hammock Road location in Oviedo joined the strike early Thursday morning, which has now spread across 180 locations in 34 cities, including two unionized Starbucks locations in West Palm Beach — the first in Florida to join the strike last week — and Clearwater. Baristas at the Oviedo location first voted to unionize in 2022. They were joined Thursday on the picket line by allies with labor union UNITE HERE and Central Florida Jobs with Justice.
Unlike one-day strikes organized by Starbucks baristas in the past — a rarity in an industry where so few workers are actually unionized — this strike is an open-ended strike, meaning the end date for their work stoppage is yet to be determined.
“Baristas like me shouldn’t be worrying about making rent or whether we’ll qualify for healthcare coverage, especially in the holiday season,” Zarian Antonio Pouncy, a barista of 12 years from Las Vegas, said in a statement from his union. “We need Starbucks to end the illegal union busting, and we need a fair contract with fair pay, reliable hours, and on-the-job protections. Until then, the message from baristas and our allies across the U.S. and beyond is clear: No Contract, No Coffee!”
Workers are asking for customers to boycott of all Starbucks locations and products for the duration of the strike
Starbucks, despite is progressive branding, has been accused of hundreds of labor law violations since 2021, when baristas in Buffalo, New York, unionized the first corporate-owned location in the United States. Allegations range from Starbucks illegally firing workers for their union activity to cutting the hours of and otherwise retaliating against baristas who are organizing at their store.
Earlier this month, Starbucks also reached a $38 million settlement with New York City’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, according to The City NYC, over Starbucks “arbitrarily” cutting workers’ hours, in violation of the city’s “fair workweek” law. Fair workweek laws, which guarantee predictability in workers’ schedules, were banned by Florida lawmakers through legislation approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year.
Blastic, the local barista, said that meeting baristas’ economic demands in a union contract — the primary sticking point in negotiations — would cost Starbucks less than just one average day of sales. Other union leaders have argued the same. “It’s just a question of priorities,” he said.
Starbucks, for instance, found the money to gift its new CEO Brian Niccol, the former head of burrito chain Chipotle, a nearly $100 million compensation package last year. According to an annual report from the AFL-CIO, Niccol made 6,666 times the pay of the average Starbucks barista in 2024.
“They call us ‘partners,’ but I’d like to see them put their money where their mouth is when it comes to that,” Blastic said. While critics might argue that barista jobs are meant to be entry-level jobs for younger workers, Blastic argued, “All jobs deserve dignity.”
“We used to see a lot more older people that were able to make a living with Starbucks, and that has changed over the years,” he said. The union last year sought a $20 minimum wage in their contract with Starbucks, plus annual 5 percent raises and cost-of-living adjustments. Starbucks, instead, offered a contract delivering no immediate pay raises — a deal soundly rejected by union baristas earlier this year.
“This is a college store,” Blastic admitted of his location, referring to the fact that they see frequent turnover from students at the University of Central Florida who are looking for a job outside of their studies. Even if this is a student’s first job, he said, “They still deserve the basic dignity of being able to support themselves off the job and respect from their management and protections in the workplace.”
According to Starbucks Workers United, nearly 4,000 unionized Starbucks workers are now on strike, as of Thursday morning, as part of the union’s latest expansion of the work stoppage. Workers are asking customers and their communities to boycott Starbucks for as long as they’re on strike — meaning, no gift cards, no coffee, no merch.
“There are plenty of wonderful local coffee shops in the area, in Oviedo, that would love their business,” said Blastic. “But it’s time for the customers as well to say … ‘if there’s going to be no contract, there’s going to be no coffee.’”
Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson, in response to the strike, told Orlando Weekly in a statement that 99 percent of their 17,000 U.S. locations are still open and welcoming customers, “including many the union publicly stated would strike but never closed or have since reopened.”
In response to the union’s economic demands, Anderson said that pay and benefits for Starbucks jobs average $30 per hour for hourly positions. “Regardless of the union’s plans, we do not anticipate any meaningful disruption,” she said. “When the union is ready to return to the bargaining table, we’re ready to talk.”
Politicians like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and U.S. Congressman Maxwell Frost (a former Starbucks barista) have shared support for the striking Starbucks workers — with the former two even joining a picket line with workers up in Brooklyn.
“Right now, Starbucks workers are on strike,” Congressman Frost, a Democrat from Orlando, shared in a Nov. 25 social media reel. “As a former Starbucks barista myself, I’m proud of @sbworkersunited for organizing nationwide. They need our support and solidarity.”
If you’re interested in showing your support for union baristas on strike, you can find a map of Starbucks Workers United public picket lines at NoContractNoCoffee.org.
Starbucks workers in Oviedo have also set up a strike fund through GoFundMe, to help cover workers’ lost income while they’re on strike.
Proceeds from merch on the union’s website, including shirts with messages like “Be Gay and Organize” and “Trans Rights Are Labor Rights,” are also currently going toward workers’ strike funds.
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McKenna Schueler
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