Baristas from Kentucky Starbucks stores and their allies rallied outside the Baxter Avenue location in Louisville’s Highlands neighborhood on Nov. 1, practicing their picketing skills ahead of a possible strike by unionized workers.
The demonstration was one of about 70 held in 60 cities nationwide in recent days and comes as unionized baristas grow increasingly frustrated with what they describe as inadequate staffing, reduced hours, low pay and limited workplace protections.
Roughly two dozen people joined the rally, including baristas from other Starbucks stores and members of local labor and activist groups such as the Louisville chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. As they marched outside the Highlands store, the crowd chanted, “Understaffing, lousy pay — this is how your coffee is made,” and “Respect our rights or expect our strikes.”
Contract negotiations between the Seattle-based coffee giant and Starbucks Workers United have been stalled for several weeks. Since Oct. 24, unionized employees have been voting on whether to authorize a strike. The vote, which runs through Nov. 2, would not automatically trigger a walkout but would give workers the option to strike if talks continue to falter.
“Starbucks knows where we stand. They know our demands: more take-home pay, better hours, (and) resolving legal issues. It’s time to finalize a contract this fall before the all-important holiday season,” said Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks Workers United spokesperson and 15-year barista. “We remain ready to negotiate whenever Starbucks is willing to bargain in good faith and offer new proposals that address our demands.”
Demonstrators chant outside the Baxter Avenue Starbucks in Louisville as part of a nationwide call for union contract negotiations on Nov. 1, 2025.
Outside the Baxter Avenue store, Brittany Bynum — who has worked at the lone Starbucks in Paducah, Kentucky, for six years and at a North Carolina location before that — said she once loved working for the company so much that she got her employee number tattooed on her body.
But in recent years, she said, she’s watched “the system break down from the inside.” Bynum described being asked to meet “impossible” corporate targets while being denied the staffing and resources needed to reach them. She said she and her coworkers have been forced to serve drinks while sewage surfaced in the store, seen colleagues’ mental health concerns dismissed, and endured what she called dehumanizing treatment from both customers and managers.
“None of this should be true of a multibillion-dollar company that claims to care for its partners,” Bynum said.
She added that since her store voted to join Starbucks Workers United, employees have faced retaliation through reduced hours and threats to their benefits.
Baristas and supporters rally outside the Starbucks on Baxter Avenue in Louisville’s Highlands on Nov. 1, calling for a union contract.
“We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re demanding the dignity everyone deserves,” she said.
Kambria Andersen, 39, who works at the unionized Holiday Manor store in Jefferson County, said shifts are routinely staffed at the bare minimum and full-time hours are rarely guaranteed.
“If I want 40 hours a week, that’s not guaranteed. Rent keeps going up, and a lot of us have to have roommates just to stay in the city,” Andersen said, adding that her pay has remained around $16 an hour for the past three years.
In a statement, Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said Workers United represents about 4% of Starbucks employees and accused the union of walking away from bargaining sessions that began last year.
“If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk,” Anderson said. “Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners. We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks — partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
According to the AFL-CIO, Starbucks’ median worker pay in 2024 was $14,674, while CEO Brian Niccol, who took over in September 2024, was given a nearly $96 million compensation package in his first four months with the company.
On Christmas Eve last year, workers at the Baxter Avenue Starbucks joined baristas at more than 300 stores nationwide in a walkout after Starbucks Workers United accused the company of backing away from its pledge to reach a contract agreement by year’s end. Employees at the store also took part in a 24-hour strike in March 2023 and a walkout in November 2022.
There are nearly 40 Starbucks locations in the Louisville area, including standalone stores and those inside retailers such as Kroger and Target, according to the company. The Baxter Avenue location is one of five in the region unionized by Starbucks Workers United.
As of September 2024, Starbucks employed about 361,000 people worldwide.
Monroe Trombly covers public safety. He can be reached at mtrombly@gannett.com. His X handle is @MonroeTrombly.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Starbucks baristas rally in Louisville as union weighs strike vote
