Striking Starbucks workers urge customers to delete coffee chain’s app
Striking Starbucks baristas are calling on customers of the world’s largest coffee chain to delete its popular mobile app in solidarity with their demands for a first union contract,Starbucks Workers United, which has been coordinating a strike for almost three months, is vowing to press ahead,“We baristas are still fighting for a fair contract, and this fight is active and ongoing,” said KC Ihekwaba, a barista at Starbucks in Lafayette, Colorado, on a solidarity union call earlier this week,“Our fire for change is still burning,Our spirits still strong.
“What we’re asking for has not changed,We’re demanding livable wages, stable and predictable hours, and an end to union busting,Starbucks still has not delivered on any of that,”Since 13 November last year, Starbucks Workers United began an unfair labor practice strike,Since December 2021, workers won union elections at more than 600 Starbucks stores.
With several stores hit by closures, Starbucks Workers United now represents about 11,000 baristas at 576 Starbucks stores in the US.A further 15 stores filed for a union election last month.At the end of December, the union scaled back the scope of the strike, with most stores giving a return to work notice to Starbucks, with the aim to keep several hundred to 1,000 workers on strike in a rotational basis given the financial burdens of long strikes for low-income employees, and to put energy into increasing the number of unionized Starbucks stores.About 1,000 baristas across nearly 50 stores are on strike.“We have definitely made it known that we deserve a fair contract and union busting has got to stop now,” said Christi Gomoljak, a Starbucks barista, during a solidarity call announcing the “Delete the App” campaign.
Gomoljak and her co-workers recently organized a union at the Downtown Disney Starbucks in Anaheim, California, and walked out on strike in November 2025.“We are calling on Starbucks customers everywhere to delete the Starbucks mobile app off your phone,” Gomoljak added.“When baristas get a fair contract, you can reload the app on your phone and then finally, use any gift cards that you might have gotten from the holidays.But trust me, coffee with a union contract tastes so much better, and it is worth the wait.”Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, said on the call: “Supporting our baristas as they take on one of the most powerful companies in the world … is an incredible way to make an impact.
This fight is about something way bigger than just coffee.It’s about whether we as working people get to live with dignity in this world that we make possible.”Starbucks has downplayed the strike and its impact, claiming that fewer than 1% of the chain’s stores were ever affected, and more than half either continued operating, or reopened, shortly after the strike.They did not comment on the app deletion campaign.“The union has called for an unconditional return to work at nearly all of the coffeehouses on its strike list,” said a Starbucks spokesperson, Jaci Anderson.
“We see this as a positive step and hope it signals a willingness to return to the bargaining table.She added: “With more than 30 tentative agreements already in place, we’re confident we can move quickly toward a fair contract – one that reflects that Starbucks offers the best job in retail, with pay and benefits averaging over $30 an hour for hourly partners.”
From Dorset to the world: wave of donations helps to secure Cerne giant’s home
It feels like a very British monument: a huge chalk figure carved into a steep Dorset hillside that for centuries has intrigued lovers of English folklore and legend. But an appeal to raise money to help protect the Cerne giant – and the wildlife that shares the landscape it towers over – has shown that its allure stretches far beyond the UK.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more
‘We put a stink bomb in Stephen Fry’s shoe’: Vic and Bob on the inspired idiocy of Shooting Stars
‘Christians complained about the stuffed buzzard wearing a crucifix round its neck. Birds can’t be Christians, they said. It’s the most complaints we ever got’The first time I saw what was to become Shooting Stars was Vic Reeves – AKA Jim Moir – doing The Big Quiz during Vic Reeves Big Night Out live. I’d never seen anything like it. It was full of meaningless questions and had an attitude
Sydney Biennale 2026: Hoor Al Qasimi unveils expansive program for 25th edition
The Biennale of Sydney has revealed the final lineup details for its 25th edition, scheduled to open mid-March across five key venues, including White Bay Power Station, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Penrith Regional Gallery.Featuring 83 artists, collaborations and collectives from 37 countries including Australia, the 25th Biennale of Sydney is titled “Rememory” – after the term coined by author Toni Morrison – and will “[explore] the intersection of memory and history as a means of revisiting, reconstructing, and reclaiming histories”.It represents the vision of artistic director Hoor Al Qasimi, the first Arab appointed to the role and the eighth woman in the festival’s 53-year history.Highlights announced on Tuesday include a giant functioning clay oven at White Bay Power Station in Rozelle, created by Argentinian sculptor Gabriel Chaile, which will be activated for the Biennale’s opening weekend and at key moments through the festival to serve visitors Peruvian cuisine. Also for food lovers is a large vat of tabbouleh, created by Lebanese artist Mounira Al Solh as part of a community-based performance in Granville
Meryl Streep is as withering as ever in first full-length trailer for Devil Wears Prada 2
The first full-length trailer for The Devil Wears Prada 2 has been released, and given more details on David Frankel’s hotly anticipated follow-up. In the promo, Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly and her right-hand man Nigel, played by Stanley Tucci, are seen reuniting with Anne Hathaway’s Andy and, later, Emily Blunt’s Emily.Priestly remembers neither, nor even her habit of referring to all her fashion magazine assistants as Emily – presumably on account of her withering alpha-editor status rather than, say, dementia.The film’s teaser trailer, which was released in November, was reportedly the most-viewed comedy trailer in 15 years, with 181.5m views on YouTube in its first 24 hours
Letter: Mark Fisher obituary
In his fat 2004 volume Britain’s Best Museums and Galleries, the former arts minister Mark Fisher displayed great enthusiasm and knowledge, dating from museum visits with his father when he was very young. I greatly enjoyed working with him when he was a well-informed commissioner and I was deputy director of the Museums & Galleries Commission.We shared common ground in that I grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where he was an MP for from 1983 to 2010. Members of my family have been involved in heritage projects for many years, from museums and historic houses to oatcakes and bottle ovens, and with their advice he was able to intervene quietly and helpfully from time to time in such matters in the city.
Wil Anderson: ‘I honestly believe being mistaken for Adam Hills is one of the great gifts of my life’
Do you have a nemesis?I know Adam Hills did one of these and he chose me as his nemesis because we often get confused. He said it in a nice way – but I wouldn’t say Adam, because I honestly believe being mistaken for Adam Hills is one of the great gifts of my life. Even at the peaks of my career going well, it was always quite a good reminder that people never care as much about anything that you care about. Sometimes you’d have moments where you think: “Everyone thinks this or that about me” – and then someone would say, “Hey, I love you Adam!” Adam’s a very well-known comedian, I’m a very well-known comedian and yet, half the time when somebody comes up to say g’day to us, they don’t even know who it is. There’s something really nice and humbling in that
Software sell-off over AI fears hits global stock markets, but FTSE 100 hits record on £8bn insurance takeover – business live
Chinese carmaker Chery to launch fourth brand in UK
Condemnation of Elon Musk’s AI chatbot reached ‘tipping point’ after French raid, Australia’s eSafety chief says
Pinterest sacks two engineers for creating software to identify fired workers
New York City’s real animal welfare crisis isn’t the Westminster Dog Show | Lauren Caulk
Team GB’s best chance of Winter Olympics gold dealt major blow after helmets ban