The Starbucks CEO has warned that operations may have ‘soured’ at Starbucks as employees fight for a union.
Howard Schultz, 69, sat down with CNN’s Poppy Harlow in an interview published Tuesday to discuss ongoing union efforts and his belief that they don’t belong with America’s largest coffee chain.
Schultz, 69, served as Starbucks chief executive until 2017 before stepping in as interim in 2022 to fix the company’s deteriorating “values” as employees protested for better wages and benefits for part-time employees.
“I would be the first to say that the union came along because Starbucks was not leading in a way that was consistent with its history in terms of being a values-based company, and I came back to restore those values,” Schultz said. CNN.
“Unionization efforts in the United States are, in many ways, a manifestation of a much larger problem.”
Howard Schultz, 69, sat down with CNN’s Poppy Harlow in an interview published Tuesday to discuss ongoing union efforts as he prepares to leave Starbucks for good.
Schultz served as Starbucks CEO until 2017 before stepping in as interim in 2022 to fix the company’s deteriorating “values” as employees protested for better wages and benefits for part-time employees.
Schultz returned to his previous role last spring, months after the first Starbucks in New York voted to unionize.
“I came back last year because the company really lost its way and it lost its way culturally,” he said.
Since then, the employer has lobbied store managers to stop union organizing efforts that they call “a new outside force that is desperately trying to disrupt our company,” according to most perfect union.
Starbucks is known for offering generous benefits to eligible full-time and part-time employees, an act Schultz said was inspired by watching his father and family struggle financially.
Benefits offered include a 401k retirement plan, paid time off, health coverage, tuition coverage through Arizona State University programs, and paternity leave.
‘Unions in America, for the most part, have existed and been successful in the past, because of companies that did nefarious things at the expense of their people. Who put their people last instead of first,” Schultz said.
‘Now, let’s take a look at Starbucks. Starbucks employees, 450,000 people around the world, 250,000 people in the US in our stores, we provide unprecedented benefits not because a union tells us to, but because the conscience of the company and my own life story are based in trying to build a company that my father, a blue collar worker, was not given…those rights.’
Schultz (left) has been accused of destroying unions by closing union stores over “safety” concerns and firing baristas heavily involved in union efforts.
Employees have spoken about the rejection they received from their superiors to agree to their terms.
“The company refuses to deal with us,” an employee told CNN. ‘We are understaffed, we are underpaid, they are playing these games. The company is setting the tone for what to expect from the labor movement in the future.’
Schultz said the company is willing to sit down and negotiate in person, but union lobbyists insist on meeting virtually.
“We are willing to sit down and negotiate in person,” Schultz said. “In 10 months, I did everything possible to address the problems of our people.”
As Shultz prepares to leave Starbucks behind permanently, he reflected on how the coffee chain has succeeded for decades.
“We are not a perfect company,” he said. “But I’m saying this because the union or an outside party didn’t tell us what to do, we did it because we want to be of service to our people.”
Schultz said the company is willing to sit down and negotiate in person, but union lobbyists insist on meeting virtually.
Starbucks employees refuse to stop their union efforts when several protests broke out last year.
Workers at 100 stores across the US protested in December as Schultz continued to reject unionization efforts.
The protest consisted of more than 1,000 baristas and resulted in a three-day strike, according to Starbucks Workers United, the organization for the labor group.
Employees criticized Schultz as union busting and accused him of firing employees involved in the effort and closing stores.
The first store to close was in Seattle after cafe workers voted to unionize.
