More than 1,000 baristas at 75 Starbucks stores around the US have voted to strike. They are protesting against the company’s recently introduced dress code. The protests started in earnest on Sunday. This came at the same time as the introduction of a new uniform policy mandating staff at all company-operated and licensed stores across the U.S. and Canada wear a black shirt and khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms.
The new dress code, which went into effect on Monday, has drawn criticism from the union representing Starbucks baristas. The union responded with outrage toward Starbucks’ move. They filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Starbucks with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that it would not bargain over modifications to the dress code. According to the union, this failure to bargain negates employees’ rights.
In a recent statement, Starbucks has fought back against the strikes, claiming that more than 99% of its stores are unaffected and continue to operate as normal. Though Starbucks says the strikes have only led to temporary closures at some stores. In some of these cases, these closures were under one hour! The extent of participation in the strikes is under 1% of the total private sector workforce. The union views this as an important step, a statement of militancy against management’s perceived overreach.
Furthermore, employees expressed frustration with the lack of communication surrounding these sudden dress code changes. They’re especially outraged because Starbucks has finally dropped the boom on all sorts of branded apparel that the company used to freely sell. Starbucks has strayed off course. They should be listening to the baristas who flex their creative juices to design and deliver the Starbucks experience, but instead they’re doubling down on the priorities,” added union representative Paige Summers.
Starbucks has maintained that the new dress code is intended to foster a consistent and professional appearance among its staff. A spokesperson for the company said the development has always been thus. They said, …The union would be better served if they focused their energy on getting back to the negotiating table rather than striking in black attire when arriving to work.
May 14, 2025 Despite having made more news lately, these strikes are still ongoing. Yet, according to news accounts, none of these protests have made it hard for Starbucks stores to open or profitably operate.
