Starbucks and its board members refuse to engage in good-faith negotiations with its unionizing workers.
John,
Starbucks employees are trailblazers in the modern labor movement. They’ve unionized more locations than any company in the last two decades, with over 340 stores and counting.
Yet Starbucks and its board members refuse to engage in good-faith negotiations with its unionizing workers. They have employed union-busting lawyers to combat their employees. They are actively retaliating against them with cuts to pay and hours, resulting in a loss of benefits. They have shuttered storefronts before workers could vote to unionize.
Starbucks employees are the heart of the company’s brand. They’re the ones working day in and day out to provide customers with a quality product and superior service. All they have asked for is to be treated with dignity and respect.
Last year, I sent a letter to Starbucks with the support of over 30 of my colleagues in Congress, urging the corporate giant to stop unfairly punishing their union employees. This disparate treatment violates numerous labor laws, including the National Labor Relations Act.
This treatment is unacceptable. The value of Starbucks, like that of any major company, lies entirely with its employees. How can its leadership refuse workers their fair share? How can it deny its employees livable wages and reasonable working conditions that meet their basic needs?
