by By Daphne Patrick
When a scandal happens centering on one of the largest and most recognizable companies in the world, we pay attention.
You might have seen the hashtag #RedCupRebellion trending right alongside the typical #RedCupDay. While most of us associate Starbucks’ iconic red cups with beginning of the holiday season, this year they’ve become a symbol of a growing labor movement that’s tired of being sideswept by corporate cheer.
What’s Happening?
On November 13, 2025, Starbucks Workers United (SWU) launched a strike on “Red Cup Day”, a day when Starbucks hands out free reusable red cups in tandem with the full holiday menu going live. The union, which represents over 12,000 workers across more than 500 unionized stores, chose this super popular day to shine a light on the bad behavior from Starbucks corporation due to their purposefully stalled contract negotiations.
The strike began at 49 locations and has grown to over 2,000 workers at over 90 stores in 65 cities, including a major disruption at Starbucks’ largest East Coast distribution facility.
Bad Faith Mega Corporation? More Likely Than You Think!
Negotiations between SWU and Starbucks have been going on for over 18 months and 33 tentative agreements have been reached on various issues. However, SWU has put forth multiple economic proposals and Starbucks rejected them all, offering a benefits package with zero wage increases in the first year.
Really think about that, I mean, it’s insane. A multi-billion dollar company can’t find room in its budget to give baristas a raise. The union is asking for better hours, higher pay, and resolution for hundreds of unfair labor practice violations. Starbucks has been found guilty of 400 labor law violations, making them what workers call “the biggest violator of labor law in modern history.”
Starbucks Social Media Playbook
The “Red Cup Rebellion” is extremely strategic, as Starbucks has spent years cultivating #RedCupDay as one of the most successful branded hashtags and moments. The hashtag causes massive buzz annually, with customers anticipating sharing photos of their red cups on social media. It makes Starbucks appear as a company folks can be a “fan of.”
By launching the strike on Red Cup Day and branding it #RedCupRebellion, the union is using Starbucks’ own marketing and clogging up the socials with this new, counter-hashtag, almost forcing it into the feeds of customers. Every news story about Red Cup Day now mentions the strike, which is awesome, it means their tactic has made the cause unavoidable.
The labor dispute has been transformed into a social media scandal of its own because Starbucks built an empire on feel-good, community-oriented branding, and they looked to their online fans to help support it. The #RedCupRebellion holds a mirror up to Starbucks, forcing the company to reckon with the gap between its public image and how it treats workers.
What Now?
In researching the strike, I was thinking about how young people (Starbucks core demographic) view their social relationship with employers, their own and not. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z workers are organizing, striking, and using social media to build public support, and they are willing to shape their economic habits around moral beliefs, particularly when it comes to labor.
The union has been pretty clear about their three core demands: better hours, higher pay, and accountability for unfair labor practices, it didn’t take long to find this information. They’ve worked on coalition building for political support, with over 100 members of Congress sending letters to CEO Niccol urging the company to stop union busting activity.
The main challenge seems to be capitalizing on public awareness and turning it into a contract win. Disgustingly, Starbucks can afford to wait out the strike, betting that the financial pressure will force workers back without having to make concessions. But younger customers seem increasingly unwilling to cross picket lines, like I mentioned.
As someone interested in internal communication, both within corporations and grassroots movements, I’m curious to see how this evolves.
Next time you see a red cup, you might think about more than just holiday drinks, and that might be a massive step in the right direction.
Connect with me on LinkedIn here!
Cool post — I like how this piece reframes Starbucks holiday cups as more than consumer cheer and instead connects them to real labor issues behind the scenes. Makes me think twice about my own holiday coffee orders.
Hi Daphne! This was such an interesting topic to cover! I love how you highlight how workers are flipping Starbucks’ own branding strategy back onto the company. You clearly connected the strike to broader trends in Gen Z labor organizing and values-driven consumer behavior. Overall, this analysis really highlights how powerful social media can be when workers use it strategically to challenge corporate narratives. Great work!
Hi Daphne, I really enjoyed your thoughts on this topic. It is especially inspiring to see how strikes, movements and labor unions are learning to utilize social media to gain attention as the tool that it is. It feels like there are constantly important strikes and boycotts taking place, so I appreciate your breakdown of this one specifically.
Hi Daphne! I really enjoyed your blog it is important to amplify the truth of what happens behind the scenes and unfair labor laws. Sometimes these issues don’t receive the attention they deserve and social media has become an amazing tool for getting that attention. Boycotting red cup day became a national movement I even saw Bernie Sanders and Zohran Mamdani participating in a protest.
Hi Daphne, good food for thought here. Personally, Starbucks is not my fav. It might just be me but I feel like this holiday season Starbucks isn’t a big as it is this time around. Also with the notorious red cup drop and the workers strike it’s clear that Starbucks is having their fair share of issues. You did a great job of encapsulating all of the issues and had good analysis.