On Nov. 16, Starbucks workers nationwide walked out of their stores in protest of working conditions during one of the busiest promotional events of the year: Red Cup Day. On Red Cup Day, customers can receive special holiday-themed cups if they order a seasonal drink. Red Cup Day is an important event for Starbucks annually, as this year’s date saw a 31.7% increase in customers compared to the daily average, according to data released by placer.ai, a company that tracks foot traffic. However, the day places an immense pressure on workers, since stores are often overwhelmed and understaffed.

Workers have walked out in the past on Red Cup Days, using the promotional event to highlight several issues. This year, a collective 5,000 workers at over 200 stores walked out, according to the New York Times, which is the largest of three walkouts on Red Cup Day since Starbucks workers unionized in 2021. Workers carried signs and chanted to bring awareness to issues with contract negotiations, scheduling and management.

“When the first Red Cup Day happened a couple of years ago now, I was a partner, I was working and it was the worst day I have ever worked at Starbucks. The company did not communicate to the workers, did not communicate even to the managers, the scale, the details of that event. And so it left us horribly understaffed and swamped and I think we’re feeling overrun. Through the years, they have gotten a little bit better about that, but really not great,” Lillian Kossak (she/they), a member of the Starbucks Workers United Union in Seattle, said.

Kossak closed her store the day of and before Red Cup Day to join the walkout. Because of the mass of customers, she felt the number of baristas scheduled could not work at a pace that ensured quality and speed. She said the first step to solving the staffing issue is adjusting the computer algorithm that determines baristas’ schedules. The algorithm’s calculations prioritize saving money, not the effort of workers. She thinks a human element must be added to the algorithm to better pay the baristas and value their work.