The new CEO of Starbucks vowed to improve customer and employee relations when he took the helm, but many workers are calling out misplaced priorities and the added demands of their jobs.
CEO Brian Niccol is driving up frustration for Starbucks employees after rolling out “Green Apron Service,” a new operating model he hoped would help the coffee chain become “the world’s greatest customer service company again.”
But barista Diego Franco in Chicago told Fox Business that understaffing and new workplace demands are making employees feel abused.
“We are abused verbally, and the manager will then point out the things that we are doing wrong,” said Franco, who has been with the Oakton & Lee Street Starbucks for five years.
“I’m pretty sure that’s happened hundreds of times since we’ve been forced to write on cups after being yelled at by a customer for the long wait,” added the barista, who is a bargaining delegate with Starbucks Workers United.
“The amount of power and money Starbucks has behind themselves, I would think they could figure it all out. And they choose not to listen to all the baristas that are already a part of the union,” he told Fox Business.
Niccol’s “Back to Starbucks” initiative is part of the CEO’s effort to turn around lagging sales after he took over in the fall of 2024. Meanwhile, thousands of Starbucks employees across hundreds of stores embarked on unionization efforts over the last few years, but progress on contracts has stalled after initial bargaining sessions.
“Starbucks Workers United has been ready to finalize this contract and to move forward,” Franco said. “Union baristas are ready to return to the bargaining table and do whatever it takes to finalize a fair contract.”
12,000+ union workers. Nearly 650 union elections won.
We’re strong, we’re united, and we’re ready for our union contracts.
Happy Labor Day, Starbucks… it’s your move. pic.twitter.com/Sb7HQ3KPTU
— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) September 1, 2025
Niccol’s efforts to improve customer service, including shortening wait times and directing baristas to write short messages on drink cups, have only made work harder, according to Franco.
“The main problem is understaffing, so some customers have to wait at least 20 minutes,” he told Fox Business. “They get frustrated, start yelling, and either demand to speak with the manager or storm out—and we have to continue like nothing happened.”
“If I’m not writing something on every single cup I grab, then I’m gonna get in trouble,” Franco said. “I’m going to run the risk of getting fired.”
“Ever since Brian Niccol has been CEO, every introduction of a new policy or new rule has only made the work harder,” he complained. “The best times I’ve had at work was when we had upwards of nine or 10 people there. Now we have four, five, I think on most days.”
“Niccol’s exorbitant compensation has been a point of criticism for workers and labor advocates,” The Guardian reported. “Niccol received $97.8m in total compensation in 2024, 6,666 times more than the median annual salary of a Starbucks worker at $14,674, the biggest CEO-to-worker pay gap among the top 500 corporations in the US.”
“The company also paid $3.8bn to shareholders in fiscal year 2024 through stock buybacks and dividends,” the outlet added. “Starbucks Workers United have criticized Niccol’s pay, his private jet use, and the $81m spent by Starbucks on a June convention in Las Vegas for 14,000 store managers and other leaders.”
“If I’m a customer, I don’t care to read a personalized note on my cup when I’m already waiting 20 minutes for my drink, and as a worker, I’m getting chastised for not having a Sharpie at all times,” Franco said. “It’s been a huge mishandling of so much money, but the company continues to lose, thinking that Brian or any of our previous CEOs have had the answers.”
“I believe if the company truly wanted to fix the problems happening in their stores, it could have happened by now,” he added. “Where the company might see a bottom line, I see human experiences, human lives that are affected by the work that we do. So I hope to preserve that and to make it better, not just for me and my co-workers, but for people who come in the stores.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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