Brooklyn Starbucks Workers Join Red Cup 'Rebellion'

BROOKLYN, NY — Starbucks workers in Brooklyn joined others across the city who abruptly walked off the job Thursday — one of the busiest business days for the coffee conglomerate.

Known across the country as the "Red Cup Rebellion," workers at a Clinton Hill and Williamsburg Starbucks struck on the annual day where customers can receive a free red cup from the coffee chain.

"Red Cup Day (November 16) is Starbucks’s biggest sales event of the season — and also one of the most infamously hard, understaffed days for the baristas that work them," Starbucks Workers United representatives said.

Some stories, including some in Brooklyn, also participated in a surprise action Wednesday, including one in Staten Island, two in Astoria and the Astor Place café in Manhattan.

Supporters also planned to gather at Starbucks locations in Downtown Brooklyn on Thursday.

While the walk-outs are intended to draw attention to the unionization efforts, the "Red Cup Rebellion" action also demands that the coffee giant to turn off mobile ordering on future promotion days, which the union says company executives are scheduling with increasing frequency.

“Corporate needs to know why we’re doing a work stoppage: we feel overworked and understaffed for the wages we are making," said Raquel Moran, a Starbucks worker in Brooklyn. "We want a better environment for both the workers and the customers."

Starbucks Workers United says that the company continues to illegally refusing to bargain with baristas over fairer hours and better staffing nationwide — despite the chain announcing record fourth quarter sales, they said.

The union says that they currently represent over 360 Starbucks stores and about 9,000 workers nationwide.