Union Starbucks Workers Call On Customers To Delete Starbucks App

Baristas are still without a contract more than four years after the first stores unionized.

Unionized Starbucks baristas are asking their supporters to delete the Starbucks app from their phones in order to pressure the coffee chain at the bargaining table.

The request is the latest escalation in the workers’ long-running battle for a first contract. The union Workers United has organized around 650 stores across the country since late 2021, but is still struggling to secure a collective bargaining agreement that guarantees wage increases and benefits.

“It’s disgusting for a corporation worth billions of dollars to force employees to rely on SNAP and Medicaid so they can keep flying their CEO to the office on a private jet,” Jasmine Leli, a barista and union leader, said in a statement Thursday. She was referring to Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol’s 1,000-mile commute from Southern California to Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters.

In emails and social media posts this week, the union has urged customers to uninstall the app and to encourage five friends to do the same. A successful campaign could deliver a blow to sales: Starbucks said on an earnings call last year that more than 30% of its transactions were coming from mobile.

Starbucks spokesperson Jaci Anderson said the union’s effort hadn’t put a dent in sales as of Thursday.