In recent days, a noticeable wave of pro-union materials has quietly surfaced throughout Starbucks’ corporate headquarters in Seattle, most notably in hallways, restrooms, and other high-traffic areas of the building. These flyers began to appear soon after baristas from sixty-five separate Starbucks stores initiated a coordinated, nationwide strike aimed at compelling the company to finalize its first union contract. The sudden emergence of these printed symbols of worker advocacy has placed the company on heightened alert, as executives prepare for the possibility of further collective actions or demonstrations of employee solidarity.
Employees working inside the Seattle headquarters report that the flyers have been distributed broadly within the building, even finding their way into break rooms and shared corporate areas typically reserved for managerial and administrative personnel. Their presence has apparently encouraged quiet conversations among office-based employees, many of whom have whispered their moral support for the striking baristas despite not being unionized themselves. The flyers, succinct yet powerful in their design and message, draw attention to the organizing baristas’ demand for better pay, improved staffing levels, and an equitable contract that would formally recognize their rights and contributions to the company’s success.
These flyers first appeared only a few days before the baristas across forty U.S. cities began their work stoppage. The timing was deliberate: the strike coincided with Starbucks’ highly publicized “Red Cup Day,” an annual event during which customers receive a free reusable cup with their drinks—a celebration that typically drives one of the year’s highest sales volumes. By targeting this particular date, union organizers clearly intended to maximize both visibility and economic pressure. This was the fourth strike held by the unionized workforce within two years, and notably, the third to occur since Brian Niccol assumed his role as Starbucks’ Chief Executive Officer in September 2024.
One flyer, prominently quoting the sentiment, “Baristas deserve better pay and staffing. SSC workers support a fair contract!” explicitly referenced corporate employees based at the Starbucks Support Center (SSC)—the central corporate office—who, although not unionized, expressed solidarity with their colleagues working in retail stores. The leaflets bear the official logo of Starbucks Workers United and include a link directing readers to a “solidarity pledge,” an online initiative encouraging supporters to temporarily withhold their patronage from Starbucks locations while the strike remains underway. This online campaign represents a strategic effort to build broad-based moral pressure extending beyond the confines of the unionized workforce.
According to two corporate employees who spoke with Business Insider, Starbucks’ Human Resources department addressed the situation in an internal meeting held earlier in the week. During that discussion, HR representatives instructed employees to report to team leaders if they observed colleagues engaging in overtly pro-union actions within the workplace. However, they were also cautioned not to interfere directly, as such activities may constitute what labor law defines as “protected concerted activity.” Under U.S. law, such actions are shielded for both unionized and non-union employees and include collective efforts to discuss compensation, working conditions, and other matters relating to employment terms and workplace fairness.
When asked for official comment, a Starbucks spokesperson declined to directly address the content of the flyers or the broader labor-related unrest. Instead, the company issued a general statement framing the season as an “exciting time to be a Starbucks partner,” emphasizing recent operational achievements. The spokesperson further noted that this year’s holiday product launch has delivered record-breaking performance and that Red Cup Day 2024 was the company’s most successful to date.
Several of the distributed flyers specifically targeted CEO Brian Niccol’s compensation package, which became a symbol of the perceived income inequality between Starbucks’ executive leadership and its front-line employees. One flyer used humor to underscore this disparity, depicting a meme of a man anxiously deciding between two red buttons labeled “Raises for partners” and “$96,000,000 for Brian,” referring to Niccol’s compensation deal. Business Insider previously reported that Niccol’s total pay for 2024 amounted to $95,801,676—comprised of a base salary of roughly sixty-one thousand dollars, a five-million-dollar signing bonus, and substantial stock awards. Labor groups, including the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), have cited this figure as an example of excessive executive pay. Data from those organizations indicate that the ratio of Niccol’s pay to that of the median Starbucks employee—earning approximately $14,674 annually—exceeds 6,600 to one, ranking among the widest gaps in the entire S&P 500 index.
The controversy surrounding executive compensation unfolded even as Starbucks pursued internal cost-containment strategies. In August, the company announced that all salaried employees would receive a uniform two-percent pay raise, replacing the more flexible merit-based raises that had been standard in previous years. Management described this change as part of broader cost-saving efforts linked to an ongoing corporate turnaround. Despite these constraints, Starbucks simultaneously announced an investment of half a billion dollars targeted toward staffing improvements, training, and customer service enhancements under its so-called “Green Apron Service” initiative—a program designed to elevate both employee engagement and guest experience.
Before joining Starbucks, Brian Niccol built his reputation as CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, where he spearheaded a dramatic revival that multiplied the company’s share value more than eightfold. Now, just over a year into his leadership at Starbucks, Niccol has launched an ambitious “Back to Starbucks” campaign. This major restructuring, valued at roughly one billion dollars and involving job cuts and store closures, aims to restore momentum to the iconic coffee chain after several uneven quarters. Early signs suggest that the effort has begun to yield modest improvements: in its October earnings report, Starbucks revealed a one-percent global increase in comparable store sales—the first positive result in seven quarters—driven in part by the success of new protein-focused beverages introduced under Niccol’s direction.
Yet, even as Starbucks publicly celebrates its operational rebound, the undercurrent of labor dissatisfaction persists. Since the first store unionized in 2021, more than 550 out of nearly 17,000 cafes across the United States have voted to join Starbucks Workers United, with new organizing initiatives accelerating following the September layoffs. However, progress toward a collective bargaining agreement remains stalled. The company and the union have traded accusations over the delay, each blaming the other for procedural slowdowns. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversees union certification and dispute resolution, has itself been hampered by vacancies that have limited its ability to take formal actions.
Corporate employees told reporters that open, pro-union sentiment inside the Seattle headquarters is an uncommon occurrence, marking a cultural shift within the corporate environment typically insulated from front-line labor tensions. They noted that this is not the first time workers at headquarters have expressed dissent over company policies. As recently as July, flyers criticizing Starbucks’ return-to-office mandate circulated through the same building, signaling an emerging willingness among white-collar staff to voice their perspectives on company-wide issues.
Several of the newly posted pro-union flyers have already been quietly removed from parts of the office, though their brief visibility seems to have left a lasting impression. Collectively, they underscore the convergence of two sides of Starbucks’ workforce—corporate and retail—each grappling with evolving ideas about fairness, representation, and the future of employee advocacy within one of the world’s most recognizable brands.
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Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/pro-labor-flyers-starbucks-corporate-headquarters-unionized-barista-strike-2025-11
