Maryland, December 13, 2025—College Park, Maryland “No Contract, No Coffee” rang out in front of the Starbucks near the University of Maryland where workers were on strike, part of a nationwide struggle against bloodthirsty Brian Niccol, the CEO. The workers had shut down Starbucks on Thursday and Friday, but today scabs reported to work, and some students crossed the picket line despite chants calling for solidarity. Still, several workers and students left after talking to the strikers and getting educated on the class struggle.  

Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members joined in the picketing, shared several copies of CHALLENGE, and talked with the workers, who were mostly university students.  One student told us that she had organized the union there over a year ago because Starbucks was demanding a conservative dress code with black shirts. But then the issue of last-minute scheduling changes – often on the same workday – became the driving issue to create a union. Now she thinks that the scheduling is being negotiated, but wages and benefits are being stonewalled by the company. So sharper chants included “How much does Brian make: 6000 times our pay!” and “What’s appalling? Corporate stalling!”  A new student from Saudi Arabia walking past was very supportive, and as the morning went on more students walked by with drinks from other shops. 

The student organizer is graduating this year with a major in public health. She said, “You have to be on the left to be in public health”. We shared the issue of CHALLENGE that included the article about the PLP-led protest at the American Public Health Association last month (CD, 11/26/25). Even in a field that should be for health for all workers, the capitalist system can distort and destroy such a goal. It is therefore necessary to fight for communism, as early public health leaders like Rudolf Virchow understood.  We will continue to reach out to the student workers here and at nearby Starbucks locations with CHALLENGE and revolutionary analysis.