"We look forward to these negotiations and hopefully setting dates and securing locations for contract bargaining," Starbucks said in a statement.Ī national bargaining committee made up of about 50 Starbucks employees is meeting weekly, mapping out strategies ahead of the talks. To date, only three Starbucks stores have begun contract negotiations, and no store is close to settling on a contract. The workers will soon get their chance to collectively bargain for a contractĪfter growing criticism from the union, which alleged delay tactics, Starbucks last week said it had sent letters to 234 unionized stores, offering three-week windows in October for members of the bargaining teams to come to the table. Starbucks announced that his successor Laxman Narasimhan, who officially joined the company Oct. Schultz seems satisfied with all this progress and is preparing to exit the company once again. "We do not have the same freedom to make these improvements at locations that have a union or where union organizing is underway," Schultz told shareholders at the time. Schultz said the newly announced raises and benefits would apply only to nonunion stores. (Many baristas cite tipping as a central issue in their demands, because unlike at many cafes and dine-out restaurants, credit card machines at Starbucks do not allow or prompt customers to add tips.)īut there was a catch. To prove the point, back in May, Schultz announced raises and a slate of new benefits for Starbucks employees, including faster sick time accrual, expanded training opportunities and credit card tipping. Starbucks has one clear and consistent message: Employees don't need a union because the company has always provided for them - with competitive wages, health care, free college tuition and other benefits. Michael Vestigo of Kansas City, Kansas, who claims he was fired by Starbucks, speaks while dressed as Apollo the Wolf during the "Fight Starbucks' Union Busting" rally and march in Seattle on April 23.Īdded benefits for nonunion stores have led newcomers to question the union The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is tasked with investigating the more than 325 unfair labor practice charges brought by the union. Starbucks has forged ahead with these actions despite being charged with violating the federal labor law that protects workers' rights to organize. Under its legendary CEO Howard Schultz, who returned to lead Starbucks in April, the company has taken a wide array of measures to aggressively fight the union - from blanketing employee communications with anti-union messaging, including in one-on-one meetings, to announcing raises and benefits for nonunion stores only, to firing workers identified as union leaders. Organizers blame the slowdown in their momentum on what they call Starbucks' "scorched-earth" campaign to crush the union. Starbucks is facing more than 325 unfair labor practice charges The flood of activity in the first half of the year, with a high of 71 petitions filed in March, gave way to a summer lull, with eight petitions filed in August. What's more, the number of stores petitioning to hold union elections has dropped dramatically in recent months. is at a 57-year highīut they hide another plain truth, which is that unionized stores make up less than 3% of the 9,000 company-operated Starbucks stores around the country. Business Support for labor unions in the U.S.
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