Curley says Starbucks strikers should quit as boycott begins, argues robots will replace baristas anyway

Starbucks Workers United, the union representing baristas at more than 550 locations, is calling for a boycott after contract negotiations have stalled.

The union’s current proposal demands 4% annual raises, a minimum of three workers on the floor at all times, the availability of additional hours to existing employees before hiring new ones, and expanded protections against firings and store closures.

But KIRO host John Curley argued the union’s demands don’t hold up.

“I believe this strike is necessary because Starbucks doesn’t realize how much stress and pressure that they put on their baristas,” one striking Starbucks Workers United member said.

“Then quit. Solved it,” Curley responded on “The John Curley Show” after playing audio of the striking employees.

Another striking worker cited the pay gap between Niccol and baristas as a reason for the strike. Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol earned $31 million in total compensation in fiscal 2025, following a $96 million package in his first four months on the job in 2024.

“It’s necessary considering Brian Niccol makes millions, while baristas are struggling to make a livable wage,” one Starbucks employee said. “We are still fighting for better wages. We’re still fighting for better labor.”

Curley argued that comparison misunderstands what a barista’s job is worth on the open market.

“I’m not unsympathetic to people that have jobs, and it’s hard to live on the stuff. But you have no leverage, because you have no marketable skill that someone is willing to pay any more than $30 an hour, in some cases, if you include the benefits,” Curley said. “You could just pull a Starbucks barista off the floor, have them take off their apron, and then have them go into some board meeting, and explain to the folks on Wall Street what they intend to do.”

Curley said automation, not the company, poses the bigger long-term threat to baristas’ bargaining position, citing robotic barista systems currently on the market.

“There are four major robot barista companies that are on the market right now,” Curley said. “Right now, you get three baristas that are human beings. It’s costing Starbucks $400-and-some-thousand a year in order to have that. It’s $168,000 to have one barista and one robot. You save, and they make more than 20% to 30% return on investment.”

Curley said he expects the technology to eventually reshape the industry regardless of how the current contract fight ends.

“Once the company down the street that starts to provide the coffee for you and it’s done with a robot is able to cut its price, will Starbucks also get the robots in there, and will they also cut the price?” Curley said. “I’m sorry for the people that are unemployed. Quit the job and find a marketable skill that somebody will pay you for.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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