Dear New Yorkers,

Last week, Starbucks hosted its annual meeting with shareholders – and oh boy, was it a lot different than last year’s...

Last year, the New York City pension funds led a shareholder fight against management due to concerns over their union-busting behavior and inability to adhere to their own stated commitment to Freedom of Association. But this year we celebrated a groundbreaking agreement between Starbucks and Worker’s United that could lead the way to a national neutrality agreement and contract for the brave Starbucks workers who already voted to join the union.

For the last few years, Starbucks has had a workers’ rights problem. From closing unionized stores to refusing to collectively bargain, Starbucks management seemed committed to undermining its workers’ rights at every turn.
 
New York City’s public pension funds take this very seriously. As investors, positive labor relations are the hallmark of good governance because we know a company’s workers are their greatest assets. To that end, the Office of the Comptroller has done a lot of work to hold Starbucks management accountable and lay the groundwork for this historic victory.

Last spring, we introduced a proposal at Starbucks’ annual shareholders meeting that would require a third-party assessment of the company’s adherence to its own stated policies in support of workers’ rights. Over the objections of Starbucks management, 52% of shareholders supported our proposal.

Starbucks fought back. They hand-picked their third-party assessor, and then – without speaking to a single worker – the assessor reported back that everything was fine, and we should take their word for it. My office’s review of the third-party assessment and found discrepancies, inconsistencies, and oversights.

But the workers didn’t give up and neither did our fellow investors. Thanks to ongoing pressure, Starbucks employees scored some big wins ahead of this year’s annual meeting, while Starbucks management agreed to identify a constructive path forward to build foundational framework to achieve neutrality. And just this week, Starbucks leadership agreed to national bargaining instead of requiring each store to bargain separately – a huge win for workers!
 
The leadership of Workers United and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) held the line to secure these significant wins. The Starbucks workers organizing every day built up impressive, electrifying power to move ahead. And our work from the position of shareholders has also been a major part of moving the needle forward with management.

Engaging companies is part of my work as investment advisor to NYC pension funds, ensuring that the companies we invest in don’t put our retirement security at risk by exacerbating inequality and short-term profits over long-term sustainability. That’s why I wanted to keep you in the loop.

My email won’t be the last update on this issue. More and more investors and companies are realizing that what’s good for workers is good for shareholders and is good for the long-term health of our pension funds.

Thanks,

Brad