A dozen Starbucks employees took to the streets outside the company’s Midtown headquarters on Thursday, and police had to intervene, according to officials.
The NYPD said it arrived around 1:22 p.m. to a picket line that was already holding about 80 union members near the Empire State Building.
After the officers repeatedly told the strikers to clear the doorway, 12 people—six men and six women—were booked for disorderly conduct, police and other sources reported.
The picket line was part of a strike that, on Friday, expanded to more than 120 stores across 85 cities after the union pushed its indefinite walkout.
“Union baristas are taking action to remind Starbucks executives that wherever Starbucks is, baristas’ picket lines will be there too until the company finalizes a fair contract and ends its union busting,” the group posted on X.
The strike, which kicked off on Red Cup Day on Nov. 13, is slated to become the longest in Starbucks’ history.
Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani and Sen. Bernie Sanders stood in solidarity with the workers in Brooklyn on Monday.
“Because all of us are united in the belief that we must build in New York where every worker can live a life of decency,” Mamdani told a crowds outside a Gowanus Starbucks.
“We must build a New York where our words do not ring hollow,” he added. “As we say that this is a union town, and we must build a New York where the workers who power it are able to afford to live in it.”
The rally came just weeks after Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city secured a record‑breaking worker‑protection settlement for 15,000 Starbucks employees who had faced unpredictable schedules.
Under the deal, those workers will receive $50 for each week worked between July 4, 2021, and July 7, 2024.
Starbucks, the coffee giant with more than 17,000 U.S. storefronts, stated that 99 percent of its locations remain open with minimal disruption.
Police said an investigation into Wednesday’s picket line incident is still underway.
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