Credit: Photo by McKenna Schueler

As part of a sweeping protest action organized by their union, Starbucks workers in Oviedo, Florida — a stone’s throw from Orlando — walked off the job early Monday morning in protest of a controversial change to workers’ dress code policy and other allegations of violating federal labor law.

Kevin Beljan, a vocal union leader at the Oviedo cafe, told Orlando Weekly that an “overwhelming majority” of workers at his store voted in support of the strike action, which will last just one day as a symbolic show of protest. “We walked out because the company has changed the dress code, and they are enforcing it despite it being a unilateral change,” said Beljan, a longtime Starbucks employee of 11 years.

His labor union, Starbucks Workers United, said on Instagram that Starbucks legally “has to bargain with union workers over changes to policies.”

More than 570 Starbucks locations across the country have unionized with the labor union Starbucks Workers United since 2021, including workers at 12 locations in Florida. The unionized Oviedo location is at 305 E. Mitchell Hammock Road.

Starbucks, a global coffee chain with roots in Seattle, has undergone several leadership changes since the organizing drive first began. Although former Starbucks leadership was pressured (in part by investors) to begin bargaining an initial union contract with the union last year, Starbucks has hit another wall in contract talks. The primary holdup on securing a union contract is disagreement on economic proposals such as pay.

Brian Niccol, the former CEO of Chipotle and current Starbucks CEO, was brought on to lead Starbucks last fall with a sign-on package worth more than $100 million, according to the Guardian.

“I do believe that if the company can pay an incoming CEO over $100 million to quote-unquote ‘turn the company around’ or bring it back to its glory days … they can afford to offer their baristas, who help the company realize that astronomical amount of money, a better hourly rate,” said Beljan, the local Starbucks employee.

Starbucks workers at the Oviedo location where Beljan works have walked off the job several times for protest actions over alleged violations of labor law since workers there first voted to unionize during the summer of 2022. The argument for Monday’s action is that Starbucks unilaterally changed a store dress code policy — effective Monday — that the company is legally required to bargain over with the union under stipulations of federal labor law.

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The new dress code from Starbucks will require baristas to wear a solid black button-down, crewneck or collared shirt under their green aprons, in addition to any shade of khaki, black, or blue denim bottoms. Neither graphic T-shirts nor gray or brown pants, previously allowed, are now permitted.

Starbucks shared in a news release that the new dress code is meant to “allow our iconic green apron to shine and create a sense of familiarity for our customers, no matter which store they visit across North America.” The company stated in its announcement that it would provide Starbucks employees with two company-branded black T-shirts, free of charge, to help employees comply.

But Beljan, the local worker, said that workers at his store — described by Starbucks as “partners” — have tried to claim these complimentary shirts to no avail.

“Out of the 20-something partners at our store, only one of them was able to successfully order and receive them,” Beljan explained. Everyone else that tried to order them through an internal employee portal saw a “sold out” message or otherwise saw that the free T-shirt option was unavailable.

A Starbucks spokesperson told Orlando Weekly over email, in response, that just three out of 18 styles of T-shirts for employees are currently unavailable in “some sizes.” Starbucks, they added, “will continue to bargain in good faith and will make sure any differences between our negotiations and store implementations are addressed lawfully and fairly.”

They criticized the union for staging protest actions instead of engaging in bargaining. “While Workers United, which represents less than 5 percent of our workforce, attempted to create disruption in a handful of stores, the overwhelming majority of our 10,000 U.S. company-operated stores remain open and are serving customers as normal,” the spokesperson said. “It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table to finalize a reasonable contract,” they added.

The union, however, has also accused Starbucks of refusing to meet them at the bargaining table in good faith.

“Customers care about long wait times and high beverage prices, not the color of a barista shirt, how they style their makeup or whether or not they’re wearing a face mask,” argued Starbucks Workers United member Michelle Eisen of Buffalo, in a video message posted to the union’s Twitter/X account.

Instead of meeting workers at the bargaining table, Eisen said Starbucks “is too busy policing baristas over the color of their pants.”

“Starbucks executives are failing to prioritize the support baristas say they need to do their jobs: better staffing, guaranteed hours, and protections at work codified in a fair union contract. Baristas have already spoken out and will continue to raise
their voices until Starbucks executives heed their demands,” Eisen added in a statement shared with Orlando Weekly.

Beljan said the policy change has forced baristas to get creative — for instance, turning black graphic T-shirts inside-out — or otherwise pay for new shirts out of pocket, to remain in compliance. Baristas in the Orlando area make between $15 and $20 an hour, according to Indeed job listings, while the minimum pay rate that a single adult with no kids needs to make ends meet in the Orlando metro is about $25 an hour, 40 hours per week.

Beljan himself, who led the walkout Monday with six other Starbucks employees at his location, was drawn to Starbucks because of the flexibility the job offered and the pay.

“They offered a better starting wage than almost anywhere else at the time,” Beljan explained. “And I definitely felt back then that there was more like, not only do we offer all that, but we do care about our workers. And I believe they’ve really, really gotten away from that.”

Starbucks has been hit with hundreds of unfair labor practice complaints from union members alleging violations of federal labor law, since the organizing movement first began. That includes unlawful firings of union leaders, threatening to withhold certain benefits from workers who unionize, and shuttering unionized stores.

A union leader at a store in Clearwater was recently terminated from her post under dubious circumstances. Beljan said he “absolutely” fears retaliation against him and his co-workers for launching a one-day strike, but believes it’s worth the fight.

“They want to circumvent the law, but we have every right to fight for better conditions,” he said. “I believe it to be a truly noble cause, and I believe that a contract for Starbucks workers can mean contracts for a lot of workers in food service and retail. And I believe we could, potentially, you know, change the game.”

The Orlando area is home to a number of coffee chains and locally-owned spots, but the vast majority (outside of certain Starbucks locations) are non-union.

Just about 5 percent of Florida’s workforce has union representation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared just under 10 percent of the U.S. workforce nationally. Union representation — associated with higher average earnings and greater access to job benefits like paid leave — is even rarer in the hospitality and food service industries, where unpredictable scheduling and high turnover can prove barriers to organizing a union.

In addition to Starbucks workers at the Oviedo location, hundreds of Orlando workers employed by Lockheed Martin, unionized with the United Auto Workers, also remain on strike after walking off the job May 1.

This post has been updated to add additional comment from a Starbucks spokesperson.

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This article appears in May 7-13, 2025.

General news reporter for Orlando Weekly, with a focus on state and local government and workers' rights. You can find her bylines in Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, In These Times, and Facing South.