In a video call to managers leaked to union representatives, Schultz called unions 'an outside force that is trying to disrupt the future of our company. 'The critical point is that I do not believe conflict, division and dissension - which has been a focus of union organizing - benefits Starbucks or our partners.' 'Outside labor unions are attempting to sell a very different view of what Starbucks should be,' he wrote in an open letter posted on the company's website April 10.Д®mployees 'supporting unionization are colluding with outside union forces,' he wrote. In videotaped town hall presentations, written communications to workers and managers, and in meetings with workers around the country, Schultz has repeatedly characterized unions as a menace to the company's economics and future. The company has mounted a fierce counterattack against the organizing drive. The partners were left in the crosshairs without the resources necessary to handle what was happening, without the right precautions and protocols that allowed them to feel safe.'

'Because Starbucks is a front-facing company considered 'essential,'' Workers United organizing chief Richard Minter says, 'the pandemic exacerbated the employer-employee relationship. Workers United says 28 Starbucks stores have now voted to unionize, up from nine that had done so as of April 1. Five stores in the Richmond, Va., area voted for unions by overwhelming margins on April 19 alone, and workers at the company's Seattle Reserve Roastery, a flagship tourist draw in Starbucks' home city, announced a successful vote on April 21. That's a fraction of the roughly 9,000 company-operated stores in the U.S., but reports of new successful votes are streaming in on virtually a daily basis. Workers United, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union that is organizing union votes, says 223 Starbucks locations in 31 states have filed for votes with the NLRB. One reason may be the company's warm and comforting image and its efforts to project a friendly relationship between customers and workers, who are designated in company parlance as 'partners.' That's very much at odds with the image of an employer so cold to the welfare of its workers that they're spurred to organize.ДЄnother may be the rapidity of the unionization drive's expansion, which began with pro-union votes at three Buffalo-area stores. Many American consumer companies, including Amazon and McDonalds, have been dealing with a surging interest in unionization by their employees, spurred in part by the pandemic-driven recognition that their employers have consistently undervalued their contributions to business success.Д«ut few such union drives are as high-profile as the one at Starbucks. (We've asked Starbucks to give its version of the exchange, but have not heard back.) Finally, Hall says, he snapped: 'If you hate Starbucks so much, why don't you go somewhere else?' Schultz kept refusing to discuss the NLRB matters, Hall says. That was at odds with his evident goal of presenting Starbucks as a nurturing company for its workforce and himself as the nurturer-in-chief in order to stave off a growing unionization drive at the company's locations. Hall says that Schultz became increasingly irritated as Hall brought up the unfair labor practice complaints that the company has faced before the National Labor Relations Board. It's reasonable to say that this session, at a conference facility near Long Beach Airport, didn't go the way Starbucks brass expected. 'The workers who are working so very hard to organize, who are standing up and fighting for justice are an enormous inspiration to me, and a reminder that if we stand together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish,вЂќ Sanders tweeted.Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, attacking organized labor The effort already has some very public supporters, including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who has been vocal about his support.

However, major investors and public figures have urged Starbucks to respect the union. Currently, no law dictates that Starbucks executives have to meet with the newly formed union, according to CNN. A contract could as include protections from dismissal, additional vacation time and maternity leave, and more health benefits. A new contract could guarantee higher wages for everyone, but particularly long-time employees. The Elmwood workers will now wait to see if Starbucks will come to the bargaining table to ratify a new contract. The successful unionization of the Elmwood branch and the pending votes of the other locations is part of a larger resurgence in labor organizing. What happens next for those Starbucks workers?

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