Starbucks baristas in Oklahoma are putting down the aprons and grabbing picket signs as they join a nationwide strike demanding change from the company.| FIRST STARBUCKS IN OKLAHOMA UNIONIZES | Baristas, employees at Oklahoma City Starbucks unionizeThursday is being called the "Red Cup Rebellion." Starbucks workers are trying to make a statement on one of the store's busiest days of the year when it hands out free reusable cups.They hope to get the company's attention, demanding Starbucks bargain with them over staffing and scheduling issues. Workers also want to get rid of mobile ordering on promotion days like this one, saying they end up being overwhelmed with orders. The group of local baristas has been protesting outside the Starbucks near Northwest 36th Street and May Avenue since 7 a.m. while the store continues to serve customers. Many of the protesters said they have felt overworked and unsafe due to a lack of staffing.“Very stressful. I would say often dangerous, even. I’ve worked on days when we have promotional days, when they are giving like a buy one get one to customers, and we have three people total working on the floor,” Starbucks worker Neha Cremin said. “So, we are running around on floors that are slippery with ice. We are running around with hot beverages, running from drinks to orders to food. All of this isn’t safe for three people to manage.”| MORE | Starbucks displayed ‘egregious and widespread misconduct’ in union fight, judge saysMembers of other unions, like the United Steelworkers Union, have stood with the Starbucks workers for support.The group plans to stay at the northwest Oklahoma City Starbucks until Thursday afternoon. They hope the message gets across and that changes are on the way. Starbucks released the following statement to KOCO 5:We are aware that Workers United has publicized a day of action at a small subset of our U.S. stores today. We remain committed to working with all partners, side-by-side, to elevate the everyday, and we hope that Workers United’s priorities will shift to include the shared success of our partners and working to negotiate contracts for those they represent.Starbucks has a long history of surprising and delighting our customers with periodic offers and promotions such as Double Star Days, Thurs-yays, and Red Cup Day.We understand that these promotional days may change store patterns and traffic, and that’s why our retail leaders have the flexibility to build and adjust staffing schedules to reflect the unique and dynamic needs of each store — balancing store resources and expected customer demand to ensure partners (employees) are on the floor when they're needed most. Notably, our store schedules are created three weeks in advance with our partners’ availability and preferences at the forefront and our stores are often provided additional labor hours to augment staffing in support of planned promotional days. Starbucks is dedicated to partner-centric scheduling and providing partners with hours that align with their individual needs and preferences is a top priority. This is reflected in Starbucks commitment to diligently create work schedules that carefully balance the availability of our partners with the staffing needs of individual stores. To achieve this, Starbucks collects a range of preferred, minimum, and maximum hours to build a complete picture of partner preferences and assist store managers in scheduling and managing their workforce. This improved scheduling protocol will enable partners to contribute to the personalization of their ideal schedules. Together, these efforts will help Starbucks improve the stability, flexibility, and consistency of schedules.We call on Workers United to respond to our invitations to bargain contracts for the stores they represent - Workers United hasn't agreed to meet to progress contract bargaining in more than five months.Top Headlines After death of 3 cows, the CDC warns of an invasive tick species spreading across the US Winter Outlook: What to expect in Oklahoma during 2023-24 season Enid police provide details after 2 caregivers arrested, one on the run Oklahoma Supreme Court denies Ryan Walters’ request to intervene in Catholic charter school lawsuit Electric vehicle maker Canoo gives inside look into Oklahoma City plant