NEW YORK (AP) — Starbucks will pay about $35 million to more than 15,000 New York City workers to settle claims it denied them stable schedules and arbitrarily cut their hours, city officials announced Monday, hours before Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders visited striking baristas on a picket line.
The development came amid a continuing strike by Starbucks' union that began last month at dozens of locations around the country.
The workers want better hours and increased staffing, and they are angry that Starbucks hasn't agreed on a contract nearly four years after workers voted to unionize at a Buffalo store. Union votes at other locations followed, and about 550 of Starbucks' 10,000 company-owned stores are now unionized. The coffee giant also has around 7,000 licensed locations at airports, grocery stores and other locales.
Workers and the company dispute the extent and impact of the strike, but Mamdani, Sanders and some state and city officials sought to amplify the baristas' message by mingling with scores of strikers and supporters outside a Starbucks shop in Brooklyn.
“These are not demands of greed — these are demands of decency,” Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ran on pledges to aid working-class people, told the crowd. Some workers carried giant mock-ups of Starbucks takeout cups, bearing the union's logo instead of the coffee chain's insignia.
Four years after the first shop's union vote, “Starbucks has refused to sit down and negotiate a fair contract,” said Sanders, a Vermont independent who supported Mamdani's campaign.
A message seeking comment on the progressive politicians' picket-line visit was sent to Starbucks.
Striking baristas described a harried workplace with chronic short-staffing, online orders so complex that the ticket is sometimes longer than the cup, and last-minute calls to come in.
“It is the company's issue to give us the labor amount to schedule partners fairly, and they are not scheduling us fairly, no matter how much money we are making them,” said Gabriel Pierre, 26, a shift supervisor at a store in suburban Bellmore.
Starbucks has been trying to bounce back from a period of lagging sales as inflation-conscious U.S. customers questioned whether its coffee concoctions were worth the money. The Seattle-based company recently reported the first increase in nearly two years in same-store sales — a term for sales at locations open at least a year — but restructuring costs, store redesigns and other changes took a bite out of profits in its July-September quarter.
Under the agreement announced Monday with New York City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Starbucks will pay $3.4 million in civil penalties, in addition to the $35 million it is paying workers. The company also agreed to comply with the city's Fair Workweek law going forward.
The company said it's committed to operating responsibly and complying with all applicable local laws and regulations everywhere it does business, but Starbucks also noted the complexities of the city’s law.
“This is notoriously challenging to manage," spokesperson Jaci Anderson said.
Most of the affected employees who held hourly positions will receive $50 for each week worked from July 2021 through July 2024, the department said. Workers who experienced a violation after that may be eligible for compensation by filing a complaint with the department.
“I sure hope that it gives Starbucks an awakening,” said Kaari Harsila, 21, a Brooklyn store shift supervisor who was picketing Monday.
The settlement also guarantees that employees laid off during recent store closings in the city will get an opportunity for reinstatement at other Starbucks locations.
The city began investigating in 2022 after receiving dozens of worker complaints against several Starbucks locations. The investigation eventually expanded to hundreds of stores. The city said the probe found, among other things, that most Starbucks employees never got regular schedules, making it difficult for staffers to plan other commitments, such as child care, education or other jobs.
The company also denied workers the chance to pick up extra shifts, so they remained part-timers even when they wanted to work more, according to the city.
Associated Press writer Bruce Shipkowski contributed from Toms River, New Jersey.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., visits striking Starbucks workers and supporters outside a Starbucks store in Brooklyn, New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
Starbucks employees and supporters picket outside a Starbucks store in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025 (AP Photo/Jennifer Peltz)
FILE - This Dec. 20, 2010 file photo shows signage at a Starbucks store in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--
Nextpower (Nasdaq: NXT, formerly Nextracker) and Abunayyan Holding today announced the completion of the incorporation of the previously announced joint venture, Nextpower Arabia, headquartered in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The new joint venture will accelerate the deployment of utility-scale solar power plants across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, supporting national and regional renewable energy transformation objectives and Net Zero targets.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260111848469/en/
As part of the new joint venture, the partners also announced a new advanced manufacturing facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Nextpower Arabia will provide advanced tracker systems, yield management, and control solutions for installation on large-scale solar projects across the MENA region.
The facility is expected to enable total manufacturing and localized supply chain capacity of up to 12 GW per year, supporting the creation of up to 2,000 jobs and development of local engineering and technical talent within the Kingdom. Currently under construction on a 42,000-square-meter site, the production facility is anticipated to open in Q2 of calendar year 2026 and will manufacture Nextpower’s comprehensive portfolio of solar tracking systems, adding up to 600 employees ( watch the video ).
Khalid Abunayyan, Chairman of Abunayyan Holding, said, “Making energy and water supply readily accessible, sustainable, and affordable is essential to the continued economic and social development of Saudi Arabia and our partners across the region. It is also central to the core values and DNA of Abunayyan Holding. Partnering with Nextpower, a true pioneer in the international solar energy community, strengthens our role in advancing Saudi’s clean energy vision by localizing advanced manufacturing and technologies, building local capacity development, and creating lasting value for generations to come.”
Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of Nextpower, said, “Saudi Arabia is a strategic market for Nextpower as we expand our ability to serve customers across the Middle East. The Kingdom is making significant progress in advancing the energy transition, and we’re proud and honored to support these monumental initiatives with proven solar technology and trusted local partnerships. Abunayyan Group’s regional expertise and alignment with our business focus make them the right partner to help deliver greater value, faster, for customers in the region.”
Turki Al-Amri, Abunayyan Holding CEO and Nextpower Arabia Chairman and CEO, said, “Our manufacturing facility represents the first step in our strategic vision to strengthen and localize the solar supply chain for our partners across the MENA region and enhance collaboration to deliver highly efficient and cost-effective clean energy. By sourcing core materials such as Saudi-produced steel through our strategic partners and manufacturing locally, we are supporting economic diversification and industrial growth that is at the foundation of Saudi Vision 2030.”
Nextpower Arabia combines the deep regional expertise of Riyadh-based Abunayyan Holding with the global solar technology leadership of Nextpower. Abunayyan Holding brings more than 75 years of experience developing and privatizing the operation of critical water and energy infrastructure across Saudi and the MENA region. The company was a key driver of the consortium behind the founding and growth of several development arms and forming joint ventures that bring leading technology to the region.
U.S.-headquartered Nextpower is a global leader in advanced solar tracking systems and software, with over 150 GW of trackers under fulfilment or operational across more than 45 countries worldwide. This total includes more than 6 GW of solar projects across the Middle East and Africa, such as Phase V of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the UAE and 3 GW of Saudi landmark projects, including:
Nextpower Arabia is well positioned to support the National Renewable Energy Program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which targets increasing the share of renewables in the country’s energy mix by 2030. Localizing manufacturing in the Kingdom will also support Saudi Arabia’s industrialization and export development plans while helping reduce the cost of clean energy for major projects across the region.
According to the Middle East Solar Industry Association’s (MESIA) recent 2025 Solar Outlook Report, cost competitiveness and improving production efficiencies are accelerating solar adoption and government-backed clean energy strategies, with regional solar capacity projected to exceed 180 GW by 2030.
In support of this growth opportunity, Abunayyan Holding and Nextpower anticipate funding the joint venture with approximately $88 million (approximately 330 million Saudi Riyals) in equity and public and private debt financings over the next two years alone. This capital will facilitate the buildout of the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility and development of highly skilled technical and engineering capabilities with a track record in operational excellence.
About Nextpower
Nextpower™ (Nasdaq: NXT, formerly Nextracker) designs, engineers, and delivers an advanced energy technology platform for solar power plants, innovating across structural, electrical, and digital domains. Our integrated solutions are designed to streamline project execution, increase energy yield and long-term reliability, and enhance customer ROI. Building on over a decade of technology and market leadership, the company delivers intelligent power generation systems and services to meet rapidly expanding global electricity demand. Nextpower partners with the world’s leading energy companies to power what’s next. Learn more at www.nextpower.com.
About Abunayyan Holding
Abunayyan Holding is one of Saudi Arabia’s most established and leading companies in the fields of water, energy, and infrastructure. With a legacy spanning more than 75 years of leadership and innovation, the company provides integrated solutions that contribute to sustaining life and supporting the Kingdom’s national development goals.
The Group comprises a portfolio of strategic subsidiaries covering the full value chain across water, renewable energy, treatment, industrial equipment, and smart infrastructure, serving both local and regional markets in Saudi Arabia and the broader Middle East and North Africa region.
Through its local and international partnerships, Abunayyan Holding plays a key role in localizing technologies and empowering national talent in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to build a prosperous, sustainable, and innovation-driven economy.
For more information, please visit Abunayyan Holding.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including: statements regarding the deployment of utility-scale solar power plants in MENA and the ability to reach renewable energy objectives, including Net Zero targets; statements regarding the speed, cost efficiency and supply-chain optimization anticipated from the joint venture; statements regarding the development of manufacturing facilities and the benefits associated with such development, including capacity increases and job creation; and statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the joint venture, and future opportunities for the joint venture, including the benefits customers may realize as a result of the joint venture. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual results due to a variety of factors including: the satisfaction of other closing conditions and the ability of Nextpower to successfully integrate operations and employees in the joint venture; the market demand for products, solutions and services offered by the joint venture and the joint venture’s ability to deliver them to customers; the risks of operating in the Kingdom and the MENA region; unexpected costs, charges or expenses resulting from the joint venture; the joint venture’s ability to successfully grow its business; potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships resulting from the announcement or completion of the joint venture; the retention of key employees, customers, or suppliers; projections regarding the global demand for electricity and solar power; macro-economic trends; and legislative, regulatory and economic developments, including changing business conditions in our industry or markets overall and the economy in general. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including risks and uncertainties that are also described under “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Nextpower’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, Annual Report on Form 10-K and other documents that Nextpower has filed or will file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be additional risks that Nextpower and/or the joint venture is not aware of or that Nextpower and/or the joint venture currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from these forward-
looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Nextpower and the joint venture assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Energy Leaders Abunayyan Holding and Nextpower Complete Formation of Joint Venture, Nextpower Arabia
