| Baristas nationwide are remarkably organized. Is the company’s C.E.O., Howard Schultz, using firings, store closures, and legal delays to thwart them?  Illustration by Janet Mac Starbucks, the ubiquitous coffee shop that was founded half a century ago in Seattle, Washington, has grown into the country’s eighth-largest employer. Workers are identified as “partners,” and, under the leadership of the three-time C.E.O. Howard Schultz, the company has branded itself as progressive, cool, and social-justice-oriented. But, as E. Tammy Kim writes in a fascinating new report, “cloaking itself in pro-partner, pro-fair trade, pro-Pride slogans” has never signified an acceptance of unions. Kim interviews workers from more than fifteen union and non-union stores, and describes how a unionization effort that started in 2021 has inspired employees across the country. More than three hundred Starbucks are now organized or in the process of organizing, and “what looked to be scattered droplets” has turned into “a wet windshield,” Kim writes. But nearly nine thousand other stores remain, and since the union drives began, the company has fired some two dozen organizers and closed at least seventeen locations because of purported safety concerns. The saga captures a particular social and political moment: many of the organizers are younger and more diverse than ever, and have come of age “in an era defined by Donald Trump,” which has prompted them to embrace the labor movement. But will their efforts this time differ from past ones—or will Schultz, with his “virtually unlimited resources,” ultimately quash the campaign? —Jessie Li, newsletter editor Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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