On Thursday, November 16, thousands of Starbucks employees nationwide walked off the job during one of the busiest days of the company’s year: a promotional “Red Cup Day,” in which Starbucks hands out free red cups. In Northern California, workers staged labor actions at Starbucks stores in Berkeley, Emeryville, Fairfield, Hayward, Oakland, Pleasanton, Sacramento, San Francisco, Stockton, and Sunnyvale.

Anna Belle, a barista at a Fairfield Starbucks for over two years who went on strike during Red Cup Day, said, “I’m out here on strike because we’re understaffed. I’m out here doing the work of two people for the pay of one. I’m out here to help build the nationwide movement of Starbucks workers going union and standing up for our rights.”

Since December 2021, more than 9000 Starbucks workers at more than 360 stores nationwide have come together to successfully unionize, fighting for better working conditions, fair wages, and consistent schedules.

In response, the company has launched an aggressive union-busting campaign. Administrative law judges have issued 37 decisions finding that Starbucks has committed more than 300 federal labor law violations.

Reflecting on Starbucks’ union-busting campaign, Anna Belle reflected, “You call us partners. You call us family. Treat us like it.”