Starbucks Baristas Stage Walkouts Over Dress Code Change

Starbucks workers staged walkouts at dozens of coffee shops in the United States this week to protest a policy change in their dress code that their union says should have been made through collective bargaining.

Since May 11, more than 2,000 baristas at more than 100 stores, including in Wisconsin, Florida and Pennsylvania, have walked out “to protest the company’s failure to prioritize real support for baristas,” the union said on Friday.

The protests were in response to an announcement by Starbucks in April that, starting on May 12, baristas would be required to wear solid black crew-neck, collared or button shirts with khaki, black or blue denim “bottoms,” referring to pants, shorts or skirts under their aprons.

The company said the “more simplified color options” would allow the traditional green aprons worn by baristas to “shine and create a sense of familiarity for our customers, no matter which store they visit across North America.”

But Workers United, which represents baristas at 570 of the more than 10,000 Starbucks stores in the United States, said the policy change without bargaining was “regressive.”

“Instead of fixing problems customers actually care about, like long wait times & high prices, Starbucks would rather focus on the colors workers wear,” the union said on social media this week.