Starbucks Flyers vs $96M CEO: Union Drama Brews Hot

KEY POINTS

•Baristas at 65 Starbucks stores launched their fourth strike in two years beginning on Red Cup Day, November 2025.
•Pro-union flyers appeared around Starbucks' Seattle headquarters encouraging solidarity with unionized baristas seeking better pay and staffing.
•CEO Brian Niccol’s $95.8 million 2024 pay sharply contrasted with the median barista salary of $14,674, a 6,666-fold gap.
•Starbucks HR instructed corporate staff to report pro-union actions but warned against intervening, citing 'protected concerted activity' laws.

Baristas at 65 Starbucks stores brewed up their fourth strike in two years on Red Cup Day, just when caffeine lovers hoped for peace. Meanwhile, Seattle HQ got snail-mail flashbacks with pro-union flyers congressing hallways and bathroom stalls—including a meme featuring CEO Brian Niccol sweating over whether to choose 'Raises for partners' or 'Give me my $96 million.' Niccol's paycheck dwarfs average baristas' $14,674 salary by a mind-blowing 6,666 times, the biggest gap in the S&P 500, while Starbucks offered a 'generous' flat 2% raise to salaried staff. HR fervently asked corporate drones to snitch on union cheerleaders, but only politely, so 'protected concerted activity' wouldn’t storm their frappuccinos. Ground coffee drama achieved new roast heights.

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Mockingbird News

@MockingbirdNews · now

Starbucks baristas strike on Red Cup Day while CEO holsters nearly $96 million paycheck. Meanwhile, Seattle HQ whispers pro-union secrets like caffeinated spies in a bathroom stall thriller.

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