Starbucks workers around the country hit the streets on Thursday for their biggest strike in history: the second-annual Red Cup Rebellion.

Starbucks Workers United is once again walking out on Red Cup Day – the coffee chain's biggest sales promotion of the year – to protest rampant anti-labor activities.

The union has described the annual event, which includes a giveaway of a reusable cup on select holiday drink orders, as one of workers' busiest days of the year.

"Promotion days like Red Cup Day, half-off ThursYays and Buy One Get One Free offers cause a flood of customers to stores without any additional staffing to cover the influx of orders," Starbucks Workers United wrote in a press release.

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"Starbucks workers can't keep working with such short staffing," said Neha Cremin, a barista in Oklahoma City. "At my store, we're expected to make drive-thru orders, walk-up orders, mobile orders, and delivery orders. This is difficult enough to manage with a fully-staffed floor, but we're often expected to manage all these things with only three workers."

Instead of accepting these grueling and exploitative working conditions, thousands of Starbucks employees across the country are taking a stand and once again urging the company to bargain with unionized stores over issues of pay, staffing, scheduling, safety, and more.

Over 100 stores participated in last year's Red Cup Rebellion. With the number of unionized Starbucks locations growing, the day of action is expected to be even bigger in 2023.

The 2023 Red Cup Rebellion takes place in the midst of nationwide protests against the US government's role in the Israeli assault on Gaza. Just as Starbucks Workers United speaks out for workers' rights, it has not been silent when it comes to Palestinian freedom.

"The members of Starbucks Workers United stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people's right to self-determination," the union said in a statement released in October. "We condemn the occupation, displacement, state violence, apartheid, and threats of genocide Palestinians face."

"Furthermore, we condemn Starbucks for shamefully using this devastating humanitarian crisis to make false statements against our union and to vilify us," the union added.

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Starbucks last month sued Workers United in federal court in Iowa, claiming that a pro-Palestinian social media post from the union had damaged the company's reputation with customers. It also argued the union had engaged in trademark infringement with its name and logo.

Starbucks Workers United struck back with a lawsuit of its own in Pennsylvania. They accused the company of defamation by implying the union supports terrorism and violence.

The legal battles have not stopped union members from showing their support for Palestinian rights, even as they fight for union recognition and worker protections.

Want to get in on the action? Starbucks Workers United supporters can check out this map to find their nearest picket line.