Starbucks workers picket near Penn’s campus as national strike enters third month

Over two dozen striking workers and Philadelphia community members gathered outside the Starbucks in the Perelman School of Medicine on Wednesday as the union’s months-long strike continues. 

Demonstrators marched from Penn Medicine to several other Starbucks locations in University City on Jan. 21. Cafe locations around Penn’s campus — including at 34th and Walnut streets and at 39th and Walnut streets — have been closed since Starbucks workers across the country began to strike in November 2025. 

A request for comment was left with Philadelphia Starbucks Workers United, who organized the march.  

Bargaining delegate and union member Silvia Baldwin attributed the strike to disagreements over key contract provisions — including wages and staffing — in an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian. Baldwin pointed to the “special” support she has received from the Penn community in the months since the strike began. 

“We have people from UPenn turn out to our pickets,” Baldwin said. “Most of my regulars are UPenn students who I’ve gotten to know over the years.”

Baldwin made comparisons between her situation and the ongoing contract negotiations between Penn’s graduate student union and the University’s administration. 

“We want the same for all the workers at UPenn and all the grad students, and they want the same for us,” she told the DP.

Earlier this month, Graduate Employees Together — University of Pennsylvania announced that the union will launch an indefinite strike, suspending all teaching and research duties, if a contract agreement is not reached by Feb. 17.

Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb (D-200), who spoke at the march, described the action as part of a broader labor movement. 

“This is solidarity for all workers to understand that when we fight, we win,” Rabb said. “When we come together, we are indomitable, and I appreciate your courage. I appreciate your organizing. I appreciate your vision that is precisely what we need.”

In an interview with the DP, barista and organizer Saoirse Shields urged customers not to purchase Starbucks products while the strike continues and asked community members not to cross picket lines. 

“Don't cross our picket line or any Starbucks’ anywhere, because every little bit that hurts this company economically matters,” Shields said. “It makes a huge difference.”

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