On one of the busiest days of the year for the world’s largest coffee house, unionized workers commenced an open-ended strike yesterday that could snowball into their biggest one yet. More than 1,000 Starbucks baristas walked out in an attempt to muddle the chain’s popular Red Cup Day and gain leverage in stalled contract negotiations.

According to Starbucks Workers United:

• Strikes were planned for more than 65 locations in 45 cities, including New York and Seattle.
• More baristas across 550 total unionized locations are prepared to join the picket line if Starbucks and the union don’t reach an agreement.

So far, Starbucks said any impact is negligible: As of late yesterday morning, a spokesperson told CNBC that the chain was on track to surpass its sales expectations for Red Cup Day, an annual promo in which customers get a free reusable cup for ordering a seasonal drink. The company said that past strikes—some of which also targeted Red Cup Day—have impacted less than 1% of its nearly 17,000 US locations.

But…the union said it’s willing to make this “the largest, longest strike in company history,” with no end date currently set. If the strike continues deeper into the season of mocha lattes and Hallmark movies, it could spoil Starbucks’ holiday sales bump…

…and derail its turnaround plan

The strike comes after Starbucks closed hundreds of stores in September, including 59 unionized locations, as part of a broader restructuring under new CEO Brian Niccol.

After being brought on late last year to revitalize the frappuccino maker, Niccol recently helped to break the chain’s two-year streak of sales declines, delivering 1% milk growth in its most recent quarter.

Labor tensions worry some investors: Last month, a group of Starbucks shareholders urged the company’s board to resume contract negotiations before the union dispute affects its stock price. Starbucks said yesterday that it’s ready to return to the table whenever. In April, the union overwhelmingly rejected Starbucks’ latest proposal for 2% annual raises.—ML

Verizon is reportedly cutting 15k jobs in its largest layoff ever. According to the Wall Street Journal, the telecommunications giant plans to axe 15,000 roles in the next week in an effort to reduce costs under its new CEO, Daniel Schulman. Verizon—the largest telecom provider in the US—has lost postpaid phone subscribers in three straight quarters as it faces increased competition. Schulman told investors that the company is at a “critical inflection point,” and that he plans to streamline parts of the business that don’t have paths to profitability. Verizon’s stock ticked up about 1% yesterday following the news of the historic layoffs.

Trump admin sues to stop California redistricting. The Justice Department moved to join a lawsuit filed by the California Republican Party to block Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to redraw the state’s congressional map. Newsom’s redistricting plan—a response to attempts by Republicans in several other states to create more favorable maps ahead of the 2026 midterms—was approved by more than two-thirds of California voters in a ballot measure last week. In a social media post, Attorney General Pam Bondi called Newsom’s plan “a brazen power grab,” while a spokesperson for Newsom said in a statement that “these losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”

Hackers used Anthropic AI to automate cyberattacks. The Claude maker said that a hacker group—which it believes with “high confidence” is Chinese state-sponsored—manipulated its AI tools to infiltrate a number of major companies. Per Anthropic, it was the “first documented case of a large-scale cyberattack executed without substantial human intervention.” The company said it was able to disrupt the attempted hacks, in part because Claude “occasionally hallucinated credentials” or thought it stole private information that was actually public.—AE

Folks in states without legal weed might have to watch Family Guy sober, since weaker alternatives won’t be available at their local gas stations. The shutdown-ending funding bill that Congress passed this week will re-criminalize intoxicating hemp to the dismay of the $28 billion industry.

The law closes a loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that allowed the sale of products containing less than 0.3% of THC, aka the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

Legal 180

Lawmakers argued that psychoactive hemp is under-regulated and puts young people at risk since it is often sold without proper disclosures and can be chemically altered for stronger potency. Last month, 38 state attorneys general—including some from states with legalized recreational marijuana—asked Congress to ban high-inducing hemp.

When the measure kicks in a year from now:

• The sale of any product containing more than 0.4 milligrams of THC per container will be federally illegal.
• Products affected include hemp gummies, joints, Delta-8, and THC-infused beverages, which have become increasingly popular as a booze alternative.

It's not just stoners complaining…with industry executives saying the ban would eliminate 95% of their sales. It endangers 300,000 jobs, according to hemp research firm Whitney Economics. Critics, meanwhile, argue that banning the products won’t stop people from getting high—they’ll just rely on unregulated products.—SK

You can make fun of it, you can call it a “sock,” you can even compare it to Borat’s mankini—but you must still prepare for a fashion influencer to sport it on a bag that costs more than a car. Yesterday, Apple introduced its newest low-tech release, the iPhone Pocket, and the internet’s reaction seems to be making fun of the phone tote and its high price tag.

The small, knitted bag doesn’t have any zippers or clips, just a pocket that is designed to stretch around your phone and a few other everyday items.

• The version with the shorter straps comes in eight colors and costs $149.95, while the crossbody bag comes in three colors and costs $229.95.
• That’s wildly more expensive than the $29 multi-pack of iPod Socks from 2004 that Apple announced in response to expensive cases and even the well-reviewed $59 iPhone strap the company released in September.

The pouch was designed in collaboration with Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion label founded by the late designer of the same name, who made Steve Jobs’s iconic black mock turtlenecks.

Bottom line: Despite the makers’ unique shared history involving sleek design, tech reviewers and social media users have almost unanimously roasted the new bag.—MM

People who’ve changed their last name after getting married know that it can be a painstaking process with a lot of paperwork. But at least it doesn’t cost more than the GDP of the Solomon Islands.

President Trump’s directive to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War will cost up to $2 billion, NBC News reported, citing senior congressional staffers. The change is a lot more complicated than the average rebrand:

• Thousands of signs, placards, letterheads, and other items at US military bases around the world need to be replaced.
• All of the department’s digital code—including for external sites and internal, classified systems—must be rewritten.

The move comes as Trump has pushed to cut back federal spending and Secretary of Defense War Pete Hegseth has said he plans to cut thousands of jobs at the Pentagon. The Trump administration has already changed the department’s website and social media to reflect the new name, but it won’t become official until Congress approves it.—AE

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