New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani encouraged his more than 1 million X followers this week to boycott Starbucks.
"Starbucks workers across the country are on an Unfair Labor Practices strike, fighting for a fair contract," the 34-year-old wrote on Thursday. "While workers are on strike, I won't be buying any Starbucks, and I'm asking you to join us. Together, we can send a powerful message: No contract, no coffee."
On the same day, Starbucks Workers United, a union representing workers at the coffee giant, announced it was going on an open-ended strike in what is being dubbed the "Red Cup Rebellion."
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"As of today, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE," the union wrote on social media. "And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history. Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX."
Thursday was also Starbucks' Red Cup Day, during which customers can pick up a free reusable festive red cup for the holidays.
Jaci Anderson, Starbucks Director of Global Communications, noted in comments to Fox News Digital:
"In terms of our annual Reusable Red Cup Day - we actually had a great day - 99% of our coffeehouses remained open and welcoming customers and we exceeded our sales expectations across company-operated coffeehouses in North America, making it the best Red Cup Day ever."
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Red Cup Day is typically one of the company's busiest days.
She further pushed back against the union narrative:
"We're disappointed that Workers United, who represents less than 4% of our partners, has called for a strike instead of returning to the bargaining table. Less than 1% of our coffeehouses are experiencing any level of disruption and the vast majority of our 240,000 partners came to work ready to serve customers and celebrate Reuseable Red Cup Day.
We've been very clear - when the union is ready to come back to the bargaining table, we're ready to talk. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.
Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks offers the best job in retail, including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners."
Mamdani was elected mayor Nov. 4 after a shocking win in the Democratic primary in June as a democratic socialist. Both times he handily beat former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an Independent in the general election.
Mamdani's office didn't immediately return requests for comment.
