"Starbucks Is on the Ropes," Says SBWU President Lynne Fox, Who Is Eyeing a Strike

[Omaha Steve]

“Investors should know that if Starbucks continues to stonewall and fight with union baristas, they aren’t afraid to do what it takes to win the fair contract that they’ve earned,” Fox writes. “This includes going on strike if they must.”

Lynne Fox September 15, 2025


Barista Hicell Lopez pickets outside a Starbucks in Cypress Park, Los Angeles during a nationwide strike in December 2024. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Starbucks’ logo, the green siren, is ubiquitous, and its 40,000 stores occupy an estimated 80 million square feet of real estate globally.

But that doesn’t make the company too big to fail. The next three months will determine the future of this iconic U.S. company. Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol crossed his first anniversary in the position this week, on September 9. He was chosen to replace the previous CEO based on his reputation as a fixer amid declining sales and brand damage. At the time, he wrote this about union baristas: ​“If our partners choose to be represented, I am committed to making sure we engage constructively and in good faith with the union and the partners it represents.”

One year later, Niccol is driving a ​“Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy, implementing a dizzying number of policy and program changes. Baristas have said that the changes are making their jobs harder, not easier, and stores remain understaffed. That strategy at present is bound to fail, since you can’t get ​“Back to Starbucks” without properly valuing the people who make the Starbucks experience what it is — including current and future union baristas.

That’s why we’re calling on Niccol to return to the bargaining table, to address our remaining demands for better wages and conditions for employees, and to listen to union baristas who have thoughtful solutions for how the company might begin to fix what ails the brand.

FULL story: https://inthesetimes.com/article/starbucks-union-bargaining-sbwu-strike-lynne-fox-nicchols