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Union supporters demand Pitt cut ties with Starbucks until baristas land a contract

Pittsburgh Progress

Pittsburgh Progress

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Union supporters demand Pitt cut ties with Starbucks until baristas land a contract
University of Pittsburgh students calling for the school to cut ties with Starbucks are stopped by security at the Cathedral of Learning on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2026. The students had planned to present administrators with a petition in support of a union-led barista boycott of the coffee giant. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Progress)

Students, union members and community supporters rallied at the University of Pittsburgh on Thursday to call on the university to join a union-led boycott of Starbucks and sever its ties to the coffee giant. Starbucks Workers United is urging people to stop buying Starbucks coffee until unionized baristas reach a contract with the company. Among the union's demands is raising wages of the lowest-paid workers to $17 an hour.

"We’re understaffed, struggling to get by, and lack critical on-the-job protection," the union says on its website. "Starbucks wages start at $15.25 or $16 an hour in 43 states. Baristas have to rely on SNAP and Medicaid, and too often don’t get enough hours to pay rent or qualify for healthcare."

Pitt was one of more than 40 schools across the United States where the union rallied, also including the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The Pittsburgh Progress has reached out to Starbucks for comment and will update this story as needed.

Amanda Marks Rivera, an organizer with Starbucks Workers United, speaks to the crowd of Pitt students and union supporters. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Progress)
Pitt students march across Bigelow Boulevard to the administration offices at the Cathedral of Learning. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Progress)
Neil Bisno, executive vice president at the Service Employees International Union, addresses the crowd at Pitt supporting Starbucks union baristas. (Pam Panchak/Pittsburgh Progress)

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