Mamdani vows to continue walking picket lines across five boroughs while historic NYC settlement addresses systematic worker scheduling violations
Solidarity in Action: Mamdani and Sanders Rally Brooklyn Workers as Starbucks Faces Record Labor Settlement
On December 1, 2025, New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani joined U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders on the picket line outside a Park Slope Starbucks location, making a dramatic statement about his commitment to workers’ rights. The appearance came hours after the city announced a historic $38.9 million settlement against Starbucks for systematic violations of New York’s Fair Workweek Lawthe largest worker protection settlement in city history. The timing was deliberate, signaling that Mamdani intends to govern with a fundamentally different relationship to organized labor than his predecessors.
A Historic Labor Settlement Exposes Years of Corporate Violations
The city’s landmark settlement resolves a three-year investigation conducted by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, which examined Starbucks operations between 2021 and 2024. According to THE CITY, investigators discovered that Starbucks committed more than half a million violations of the Fair Workweek Law across nearly all of its 300-plus New York City locations. The violations included systematically denying workers predictable scheduling, arbitrarily cutting hours, and preventing employees from picking up additional shiftspractices that kept workers involuntarily part-time despite their desire for more hours. The settlement requires Starbucks to pay approximately $35.5 million to roughly 15,000 workers who were affected during the three-year investigation period. Additionally, the company must pay $3.4 million in civil penalties. These figures represent not merely corporate misconduct but a systemic, deliberate pattern of labor law violations that affected virtually every unionized location in the city.
Four Years Without a Contract: The Ongoing Strike Deepens Labor Tensions
The Starbucks Workers United strike that prompted Mamdani and Sanders’ picket-line appearance began in November, nearly four years after the first store voted to unionize in Buffalo. According to ABC7 New York, the company has refused to negotiate a fair contract despite the union’s persistent organizing efforts across more than 600 locations nationwide. Workers point to stagnant wagesreportedly around $18 hourlycombined with erratic scheduling, understaffing, and the company’s explicit anti-union strategy. Gabriel Pierre, a 26-year-old shift supervisor at a Bellmore location, articulated the core grievance: the company refuses to provide adequate labor scheduling. According to reporting from Union Bulletin, Pierre explained that despite the financial success the workers generate, Starbucks systematically keeps them understaffed. The strike comes as Starbucks announced plans to close hundreds of stores across North America, including 59 unionized locations, raising further concerns about union busting through strategic store closures.
Mamdani’s Commitment: From Campaign Promises to Governing Approach
During his campaign, Mamdani positioned himself as fundamentally different from previous mayors, promising direct solidarity with organized workers. According to NY1, when asked whether he would abandon protests once assuming office, Mamdani declared: “When I become the mayor of this city, I’m going to continue to stand on picket lines with workers across the five boroughs.” This statement represents a stark departure from traditional mayoral practice, which typically involves distancing the office from labor disputes to project municipal neutrality. The settlement itself validates Mamdani’s approach, suggesting that aggressive worker advocacy and regulatory enforcement are not incompatible with municipal governance.
The Messaging: Demands for Decency, Not Greed
On the picket line, Mamdani framed workers’ demands in moral rather than economic terms. According to multiple sources including Fortune, Mamdani stated: “These are not demands of greed. These are demands for decency. These are workers who are simply being asked to be treated with the respect that they deserve. They’re being asked that their labor be repaid in a manner that allows them to build a dignified life.” Sanders, Mamdani’s political ally and a longtime champion of labor rights, echoed this message by drawing connections between Starbucks workers’ struggles and broader economic inequalities. According to ABC7, Sanders argued that workers are “sick and tired of corporate greed and union busting,” emphasizing that the broader economy serves the wealthy while workers at the bottom face constant precarity.
Worker Testimonies Reveal Systemic Labor Practice Abuses
The settlement validates complaints that baristas had been raising for years. Kaari Harsila, a 21-year-old Brooklyn shift supervisor, described chronic understaffing and the impossible demands placed on workers. According to dnyuz, workers face complex online orders where “the ticket is sometimes longer than the cup,” alongside last-minute calls to come in despite unpredictable schedules. This creates not only financial instability but prevents workers from managing other obligationschild care, education, second jobsthat precarious workers typically depend on to survive. The city’s investigation, as reported by THE CITY, found that most Starbucks employees in New York never received regular schedules, making it impossible to plan beyond day-to-day survival.
Political Alignment and Labor’s New Moment
Sanders’ presence on the picket line carries particular significance. The Vermont independent has become the de facto leader of labor advocacy within the Democratic Party’s left wing. According to union sources, Sanders’ decision to physically appear demonstrated that Starbucks Workers United has achieved a level of political legitimacy typically reserved for established unions. The optics matter: a Senator and a Mayor-elect, both self-identified socialists, refusing the traditional dance of political neutrality when workers face corporate exploitation.
The Broader Question: Will Mayoral Solidarity Translate Into Policy?
Mamdani’s picket-line appearance raises an implicit question: will solidarity rhetoric transform into concrete policy once he assumes office? The settlement, technically negotiated under Eric Adams’ administration, suggests that executive enforcement mechanisms can compel corporate compliance. Yet critics wonder whether Mamdani’s administration will continue applying such aggressive enforcement. His appointment of a labor-friendly commissioner to lead the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will be a crucial test of whether campaign promises will survive the bureaucratic reality of municipal governance. Additionally, the city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services will face pressure to ensure that city contractors similarly comply with labor protections.
National Implications of NYC’s Labor Moment
New York City’s settlement and the mayor-elect’s public embrace of striking workers sends a message beyond Brooklyn. With approximately 550 Starbucks locations unionized nationally and the strike potentially expanding to more than 500 stores, the political terrain for labor organizing has shifted. Younger politicians, according to reporting, increasingly recognize that backing workers’ demands carries electoral benefits. Mamdani’s victory, achieved partly through overwhelming support from young, working-class voters, reflects changing political calculations about labor’s relevance. The settlement and picket-line appearance together constitute a clear statement: in 2025, labor organizing is no longer politically marginal but central to a municipality’s moral authority. As Mamdani prepares to take office, his choice to stand with workersnot above themwhile corporate executives negotiate settlements suggests that New York City’s relationship to organized labor may be entering a fundamentally new chapter.
