Brewing Change: Labor Organizing at Starbucks

What Does It Profit Podcast

In this episode, we tell an almost surreal story. It is the origin story of “union busting” at Starbucks, one of the country’s best-known progressive and socially-conscious companies, and the highest ranking food service company on the list of Fortune’s Most Admired Companies.

Our host Dr. Dawn Carpenter, a Starbucks shareholder, is encouraged by activist shareholder efforts to seek intervention at the board-level to remedy what a New York administrative law judge recently ruled to be “egregious and widespread misconduct” in the union organizing campaign that started in 2019.

Wanting to get to the root of things, we take you to Buffalo, New York to introduce you to Michelle Eisen, a Starbucks barista, and Will Westlake, a former barista with the company. We learn why they embarked on the epic journey to unionize their stores.

We hear support from folk singer-songwriter Billy Bragg who played for the campaigners in the first elections. We also get insight from Lynne Fox, the international president of Workers United, the group helping Starbucks stores unionize. And, of course, we bring you some of the misguided musings of Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, whose own words galvanized the campaigners in the first election.

At the release date of this episode, we learn that there are over 270 unionized Starbucks locations – but not one contract. This is a long, challenging process. To assist the efforts of the baristas and activist shareholders, on March 29, 2023, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee will question Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz, hoping for a commitment for free and fair elections that comply with the law.

Should listeners want to engage, you can (1) offer your support for the Starbucks Worker United campaign, and/or (2) join the Twitter support network using #NoContractNoCoffee, #DearHoward, and #wdip.

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