WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Today,
U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) led a group of 14
Senators to
urge Starbucks CEO
Howard Schultz to cease efforts to undermine unionization campaigns occurring
at the company’s locations, and instead support employee-led union efforts
nationwide. In a letter, the Senators detailed the company’s proposal to deny
new, expanded benefits to unionized workers, and made clear interfering with
workers’ right to organize is an illegal, unfair labor practice.
“We
urge you to listen to the voices of your partners who are joining together to
create a fairer and safer workplace for all Starbucks employees by voluntarily
recognizing unionization efforts and actively pursuing a nationwide agreement
to provide coverage for all Starbucks employees,” wrote the
senators. “Your employees have worked throughout the pandemic, keeping
communities comforted and caffeinated while fueling strong company profits. Now
we urge you to listen to your employees and hear their pleas to improve the
company they are dedicated to serving.”
The
letter was co-signed by: Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Bob Casey (D-PA),
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Alex Padilla
(D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Elizabeth Warren
(D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).
Brown has been at the forefront of fighting for
workers’ rights. In February 2021, Brown introduced the
Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act,
comprehensive labor legislation to protect workers’ right to stand together and
bargain for fairer wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. In April of 2020,
he and Booker
pressed Amazon on the treatment
and safety of the company’s front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In
October 2019, Brown and Booker also
introduced legislation that would hold
aircraft carriers accountable for repeated, willful, or serious labor
infractions.
Full
text of the letter can be found
here or below.
Dear
Mr. Schultz:
We
write to express support for workers across the nation who are taking the steps
to form unions at many of your stores. Their actions provide an opportunity for
Starbucks to be the twenty-first century leader for corporations by once again
setting industry standards for what is possible when workers are heard and
their rights protected. We urge you to listen to the voices of your partners who
are joining together to create a fairer and safer workplace for all Starbucks
employees by voluntarily recognizing unionization efforts and actively pursuing
a nationwide agreement to provide coverage for all Starbucks employees.
We
were pleased by your announcement1 this month to halt the practice of stock
buybacks and commit to reinvesting profits into your workforce instead. Your
employees have worked throughout the pandemic, keeping communities comforted
and caffeinated while fueling strong company profits. Now we urge you to listen
to your employees and hear their pleas to improve the company they are
dedicated to serving. Starbucks is an American success story, and at this
moment you can be the model other corporations look to by partnering with your
workers who are risking their livelihoods to demand a voice on the job through
a union.
However,
we are deeply troubled by reports that, on the heels of the stock buyback
announcement, Starbucks has taken steps to undermine nation-wide, worker-led
union campaigns. Earlier this month2 , you described new efforts at Starbucks
to target benefits toward non-unionized employees while consciously excluding
union employees. You suggest that your lawyers have indicated that it would be
illegal to increase benefits for workers in a union. We write to underscore
that attempts to interfere with workers’ right to organize is an illegal unfair
labor practice under Section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act
(“NLRA”) by “discriminat[ing] in regard to hire or tenure of employment or any
term or condition of employment to encourage or discourage membership in any
labor organization”.
First,
we note that by offering to increase benefits for your workers, Starbucks is
doing what the union campaigns have said all along: Starbucks can and should
provide better working conditions and benefits for its workers. It is
unfortunate that Starbucks has chosen to do this now seemingly to interfere
with the union campaigns, since such action would constitute impermissible
interference in a union organizing drive.
Second,
as you and your lawyers know well, there is nothing keeping Starbucks from offering
benefits to workers in a union – the union simply needs to be consulted first.
That is the purpose of a union: it gives workers a voice in their workplace.
Your comments3 suggesting that workers in support of union are “colluding with
outside union forces” contradicts your goal to “cocreat[e] our future directly
as partners.” Your “partners” include more than a thousand workers across 17
states4 who have, to date, voted in favor of a union. Suggesting publicly that
benefits cannot be extended to workers in a union is a bad faith move to
undermine contract negotiations with unionized locations. We urge you to,
instead, truly work together with your employees by forming collective
bargaining agreements to build that future, helping to set new standards in an
industry that has become synonymous with driving a race to the bottom in our
economy.
For
over one hundred years, unions have been the driving force behind almost every
single improvement in workplace conditions, wages, and overall quality of life
for workers from all parts of the economy. The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted
the lack of protections non-unionized workers endure and the benefits that
collective worker voices can achieve. Throughout the pandemic, unions
negotiated health and safety measures, paid sick leave, and job preservation.
These workers felt more secure speaking out about hazards and therefore
contributed to a safer and healthier workplace, which benefits us all.
Empowered
workers who have the right to organize for better pay, improved working
conditions, and a secure retirement are safer, happier and a part of a better
and more productive workplace. We know that a unionized workforce spurs
economic growth, productivity and reduces rates of turnover. We also know that
union households have twice the amount of net wealth as non-union households –
that figure is three-and-half times more for Black families and five times more
for Hispanic families. Workers who have called on you to support unionization
efforts deserve the company that Starbuck seeks to be, one that is inclusive
and built on investing its greatest asset: its workers.
Starbucks
is a pathbreaking company. As you look to its future, we urge you to remain a
national and global leader by setting new standards for employer-worker
relationships. This is an opportunity to work together with your workers
instead of illegally retaliating against them. It’s a chance to help set
standards for not only your 300,000 workers, but for the millions in the food
service industry all across the country as well.
Sincerely,
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