SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz speaks at a town hall event in Seattle on April 4, 2021. (Photo: Starbucks)
CEO Howard Schultz Ripped for Saying Starbucks 'Being Assaulted' by Unionization
"Newsflash: Our union isn't trying to take Starbucks' people—our union is Starbucks' people!" said Starbucks Workers United.
Apr 05, 2022
On his first day back as chief executive of Starbucks, billionaire Howard Schultz said during a town hall Monday that the coffee giant and other U.S. companies are "being assaulted" by unionization drives, a comment that workers took as a signal of his union-busting intentions as he takes the helm amid a nationwide wave of organizing.
"It doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
"Here's where it gets a little sensitive, because I've been coached a little bit," Schultz told an audience of employees in Seattle. "But I do want to talk about something pretty serious. We can't ignore what is happening in the country as it relates to companies throughout the country being assaulted, in many ways, by the threat of unionization."
"I can say this two ways," Schultz added. "I can say I'm anti-union, or I can say I'm pro-partner and pro-Starbucks."
The progressive media outlet More Perfect Union posted a brief clip of Schultz's remarks on Twitter:
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich argued that Schultz's remarks show that "it doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
Schultz, now in his third stint as Starbucks CEO, has a long track record of anti-union actions and rhetoric, and employees believe he was brought back to help the company crush organizing efforts at coffee shops in dozens of states nationwide.
In response to Schultz's comments Monday, Starbucks Workers United (SWU)--an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union--tweeted that "Starbucks' best days are ahead of us because we are standing together as partners to hold Starbucks accountable to the company we believe it can be."
"At today's town hall in Seattle, Howard Schultz just said that 'there is a group--an organization--trying to take our people,'" SWU wrote. "Newsflash: Our union isn't trying to take Starbucks' people--our union is Starbucks' people!"
While Schultz's more overt anti-union comments are conspicuously absent from a round-up of the CEO's comments posted on Starbucks' website, the company's summary does include a section titled "On unionization and the need to restore trust and belief," in which Schultz characterizes unions as a divisive third party standing between management and ordinary employees.
"My job in coming back to Starbucks, is to ensure the fact that we, the collective we, co-create, reimagine a new Starbucks with our partners at the center of it all," said Schultz. "As a pro-partner company. A company that does not need someone in between us and our people."
About an hour after the town hall, Starbucks fired Phoenix-based barista Laila Dalton, a move that was seen as retaliation for her involvement in union organizing at the store where she worked.
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Starbucks for disciplining two employees--including Dalton--for working to unionize their Phoenix shop.
"I won't stop fighting now," Dalton tweeted Monday night following her termination.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
On his first day back as chief executive of Starbucks, billionaire Howard Schultz said during a town hall Monday that the coffee giant and other U.S. companies are "being assaulted" by unionization drives, a comment that workers took as a signal of his union-busting intentions as he takes the helm amid a nationwide wave of organizing.
"It doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
"Here's where it gets a little sensitive, because I've been coached a little bit," Schultz told an audience of employees in Seattle. "But I do want to talk about something pretty serious. We can't ignore what is happening in the country as it relates to companies throughout the country being assaulted, in many ways, by the threat of unionization."
"I can say this two ways," Schultz added. "I can say I'm anti-union, or I can say I'm pro-partner and pro-Starbucks."
The progressive media outlet More Perfect Union posted a brief clip of Schultz's remarks on Twitter:
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich argued that Schultz's remarks show that "it doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
Schultz, now in his third stint as Starbucks CEO, has a long track record of anti-union actions and rhetoric, and employees believe he was brought back to help the company crush organizing efforts at coffee shops in dozens of states nationwide.
In response to Schultz's comments Monday, Starbucks Workers United (SWU)--an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union--tweeted that "Starbucks' best days are ahead of us because we are standing together as partners to hold Starbucks accountable to the company we believe it can be."
"At today's town hall in Seattle, Howard Schultz just said that 'there is a group--an organization--trying to take our people,'" SWU wrote. "Newsflash: Our union isn't trying to take Starbucks' people--our union is Starbucks' people!"
While Schultz's more overt anti-union comments are conspicuously absent from a round-up of the CEO's comments posted on Starbucks' website, the company's summary does include a section titled "On unionization and the need to restore trust and belief," in which Schultz characterizes unions as a divisive third party standing between management and ordinary employees.
"My job in coming back to Starbucks, is to ensure the fact that we, the collective we, co-create, reimagine a new Starbucks with our partners at the center of it all," said Schultz. "As a pro-partner company. A company that does not need someone in between us and our people."
About an hour after the town hall, Starbucks fired Phoenix-based barista Laila Dalton, a move that was seen as retaliation for her involvement in union organizing at the store where she worked.
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Starbucks for disciplining two employees--including Dalton--for working to unionize their Phoenix shop.
"I won't stop fighting now," Dalton tweeted Monday night following her termination.
On his first day back as chief executive of Starbucks, billionaire Howard Schultz said during a town hall Monday that the coffee giant and other U.S. companies are "being assaulted" by unionization drives, a comment that workers took as a signal of his union-busting intentions as he takes the helm amid a nationwide wave of organizing.
"It doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
"Here's where it gets a little sensitive, because I've been coached a little bit," Schultz told an audience of employees in Seattle. "But I do want to talk about something pretty serious. We can't ignore what is happening in the country as it relates to companies throughout the country being assaulted, in many ways, by the threat of unionization."
"I can say this two ways," Schultz added. "I can say I'm anti-union, or I can say I'm pro-partner and pro-Starbucks."
The progressive media outlet More Perfect Union posted a brief clip of Schultz's remarks on Twitter:
Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich argued that Schultz's remarks show that "it doesn't matter what industry: corporations are terrified of what happens when workers organize."
Schultz, now in his third stint as Starbucks CEO, has a long track record of anti-union actions and rhetoric, and employees believe he was brought back to help the company crush organizing efforts at coffee shops in dozens of states nationwide.
In response to Schultz's comments Monday, Starbucks Workers United (SWU)--an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union--tweeted that "Starbucks' best days are ahead of us because we are standing together as partners to hold Starbucks accountable to the company we believe it can be."
"At today's town hall in Seattle, Howard Schultz just said that 'there is a group--an organization--trying to take our people,'" SWU wrote. "Newsflash: Our union isn't trying to take Starbucks' people--our union is Starbucks' people!"
While Schultz's more overt anti-union comments are conspicuously absent from a round-up of the CEO's comments posted on Starbucks' website, the company's summary does include a section titled "On unionization and the need to restore trust and belief," in which Schultz characterizes unions as a divisive third party standing between management and ordinary employees.
"My job in coming back to Starbucks, is to ensure the fact that we, the collective we, co-create, reimagine a new Starbucks with our partners at the center of it all," said Schultz. "As a pro-partner company. A company that does not need someone in between us and our people."
About an hour after the town hall, Starbucks fired Phoenix-based barista Laila Dalton, a move that was seen as retaliation for her involvement in union organizing at the store where she worked.
Last month, the National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint against Starbucks for disciplining two employees--including Dalton--for working to unionize their Phoenix shop.
"I won't stop fighting now," Dalton tweeted Monday night following her termination.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.