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In 2025:
- Hundreds of vendors earned over $1M selling the newspaper.
- We proved our collective power in the face of federal attacks on our community.
- And we gathered to celebrate 31 years of low-barrier jobs & independent journalism!

We’re grateful to have had you by our side during it all!

The action was coordinated to disrupt Starbucks’ “red cup” holiday winter seasonal promotion, which is typically the most profitable time for the company.

It also attracted notable supporters like Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson, who joined hundreds outside the shuttered Seattle Reserve Roastery.

As a result, workers have decided to play one final card: A national, open-ended strike. Starting on Nov. 13, baristas in more than 40 cities went on strike, picketing outside their stores and shutting them down.

Now workers are on the verge of a big breakthrough — negotiating their first national labor contract.

But since the union’s member-led bargaining team rejected an offer back in April, the process has stalled. The key sticking points remain compensation and health benefits.

It’s been four years since the
NLRB certified the petition by Starbucks baristas in Buffalo, NY to unionize the first store in the country.

Since then, more than 550 stores and 11,000 workers have joined the union @sbworkersunited.org including dozens of locations in the Seattle area.

Want to read all this in print AND support essential Seattle workers? Buy a copy from Real Change vendor Dawn!

Dawn (badge #13757) has made a living as a vendor since 2017. She typically sells outside the Lake City Post Office. Next time you’re in the area, stop by to say hi & grab a paper! 📰💕

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