It’s Time for a Starbucks Boycott

Baristas like me in the US are struggling to afford health care while our CEO commutes by private jet and refuses to agree to a fair union contract.

Starbucks picket in November, 2025 -- image via X

By Lisa Watson

Walking into a Starbucks means being greeted with the sounds of lively lobby conversation, milk being steamed, and baristas chatting with customers. As a customer you might love coming to Starbucks to customize your drink, enjoy the ambiance, or see your favorite barista.

I thrive in this environment and I love connecting with my customers as a barista. I love my job, but Starbucks has shown us it has forgotten about baristas like me.

That’s why I’m joining my coworkers in calling on everyone who supports working people over corporations to boycott Starbucks.

Starbucks has lost its way. Workers like my co-workers and me are trying our hardest to show up for our customers, but Starbucks continues to make our jobs difficult — from creating massive amounts of waste, extra costs, and work for us with the company’s failed AI inventory tool to introducing new beverage components that have put our health and safety at real risk.

The most alluring benefit to many Starbucks applicants — including me — is the promise of health insurance coverage. Now, Starbucks is raising health insurance premiums, forcing some workers to pay up to twice as much as before.

Starbucks wages start at just $15.25 or $16 an hour in 43 states. Many of us already struggle to get enough hours to pay rent or even qualify for health insurance, leaving some of us to rely on SNAP and Medicaid because Starbucks’ coverage is out of reach.

For years, baristas have shined a light on systemic issues at Starbucks including understaffing, chaotic scheduling, low wages, and too-few hours to qualify for the company’s benefits. Over the past five years, we’ve organized over 12,000 baristas who are fighting for a fair union contract that locks in better pay, better staffing, and enough hours to live on.

Still, Starbucks refuses to finalize a fair union contract after nearly half a decade of negotiations. Starbucks has to do more to earn the moniker “the best job in retail.”

This is exactly why we’re fed up, fired up, and united more than ever in our fight for a fair union contract. It would cost Starbucks less than a single day’s sales to agree to a fair contract that would ensure we’re treated fairly. Why wouldn’t the company want that?

Union baristas have shown that our collective power can win meaningful change. So now we’re calling on organizations, political parties, and elected officials to stand with us — and boycott Starbucks until our demands are met. Solidarity with baristas brought the company back to the bargaining table before, and we can do it again to take negotiations over the finish line to finalize a contract.

The truth is corporate leadership at Starbucks is out of touch and the poster child of corporate greed.

As the baristas who fuel the company’s struggle to make ends meet, Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol calls a $9 coffee an “affordable premium experience” as he rakes in tens of millions and commutes nearly 1,000 miles to work by private jet. Last year, our CEO-to-worker pay ratio was a staggering 1,794 to 1.

For too long, Starbucks has behaved like it’s above the law, racking up more labor law violations than any company in modern U.S. history.

We want change from Niccol, not platitudes. We want compensation for the value we create, not just a pat on the back, and we want our contract finalized.

Lisa Watson is a Starbucks barista of three years from North Carolina. This op-ed was originally published by Inequality.org and distributed for syndication by OtherWords.org