Nov 14, 2025
Yesterday, over 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers in 40 cities walked off the job, demanding higher wages, fairer working conditions, and negotiations with the corporate overlords on a new union contract. They’re calling it the Red Cup Rebellion, a dramatic, gothic name referring to the start of Starbucks’ holiday season and the rollout of its signature red cups. (Traditionally, Red Cup Day, aka yesterday, is one of the company’s busiest days of the year.)
In the lead-up to the Rebellion, the Democratic Socialists of America urged non-Starbucks workers to pad the picket lines, calling this their “next thing” after “getting Zohran elected mayor.” “They need you there to make those lines nice and big and beautiful,” a DSA organizer told members via Zoom, after another organizer invoked Zohran once again. (“We’ve been really blessed to have support from DSA, and in particular, from Zohran!”)
Yet another organizer, on that call, advocated for a “guerrilla warfare mindset” during the strike.
Curious what guerrilla warfare at Starbucks might mean, I visited the Red Cup Rebellion in Brooklyn.
pirate wires #151 // parasitic radical leftists and california healthcare unions (but I repeat myself) are working on a wealth tax that would end the concept of private property
new york city's next mayor ran on freezing rent, free buses, and policies that are popular yet unrealistic (or illegal) setting the stage for years of lawsuits and funding fights
migrants keep yuppies fed while liberals romanticize the hustle of their tired african burrito messengers, ignoring the exploitation going on behind the scenes