Starbucks workers held an impromptu walkout Thursday morning at the State Street location to protest insufficient staffing and poor working conditions.

Despite growing frustrations stemming from too few employees and a broken ice machine, the walkout was not planned in advance, Starbucks shift supervisor and union organizer Matthew Cartwright said. 

“We were expecting to go and do our shifts,” Cartwright said. “We were not expecting to have a walkout today.”

This comes after the branch successfully voted to unionize June 1, 2023, Cartwright said.

Since unionizing, the branch has come under the leadership of multiple new managers and a new district manager who brought the news that school-year staffing goals would decrease from 50 baristas to 25 to 30, Cartwright said.

Cartwright said corporate officials used artificial intelligence to generate this number without input from staff.

“We are just continuously overwhelmed,” Cartwright said. “Yesterday was the first day of classes and everyone was just overwhelmed. We don’t have the manpower. We don’t have the resources. And we’re getting basically no support from corporate.”

Based on Wednesday’s sales, Cartwright predicts that Thursday’s all-day shutdown will cost the company around $13 thousand in revenue.

Cartwright said the State Street location is still working toward securing a union contract with Starbucks, which would allow them to negotiate for increased staffing and increased support from corporate.

Cartwright said workers are upset by the long wait times and unpleasant experiences current conditions create for University of Wisconsin students.

“They’re [students] rushing to class, they’re rushing to exams,” Cartwright said. “They come here, find a sea of people … That’s just a disruption to everyone … And it’s all just because Starbucks is trying to exploit more money out of both us and them.”