In a letter to Starbucks’ (NASDAQ:SBUX) board members Beth Ford and Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, Trillium Asset Management, Shareholder Association for Research and Education (SHARE), and representatives for New York employees’ pension fund are urging the company to negotiate a deal with its labor union to avoid a strike by its members.
“We are concerned that Starbucks’ labor relations have significantly deteriorated, as reflected by over one hundred Unfair Labor Practice complaints filed since the beginning of the year, in-store actions, partner walkouts and protests over store closings, and even strikes,” the letter from Trillium, SHARE, Pensions Investment Research Consultants (PIRC), and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said.
The investors cite the Starbucks Workers Union (SBWU) full page ad in the New York Times claiming the company is “stonewalling” and “refusing to settle a union contract” as three years have passed since the first union election with no contract agreement reached since.
Despite assurances by CEO Brian Niccol to engage with the labor union, “it now appears that labor relations at Starbucks have deteriorated since his arrival,” the letter adds.
Starbucks’ (NASDAQ:SBUX) contentious relationship with the SBWU goes back to the tenure of CEO Kevin Johnson when the SBWU was formed in Buffalo, New York. In the four years since, the union has grown to represent over 11,000 employees across 500 stores, even as Starbucks management sought to curb organizing efforts.
While the union has staged strikes at more than 190 restaurants, a comprehensive contract between Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) management and Workers United for its unionized baristas has yet to be reached.
The union is seeking more hours for baristas to qualify for health insurance, higher take-home pay, and for the company to address the unresolved unfair labor practice charges ((ULPs)) against Starbucks.