To mark the passing of the corporate baton from Howard Schultz, founder and CEO of Starbucks, to his replacement, Laxman Narasimhan, and to make it clear to Mr. Narasimhan that the labor movement’s demands will continue for Starbucks workers, the IUF, together with IUF affiliate SEIU and Workers United, coordinated a Day of Action on April 11. Workers and unions from Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom joined together to send messages of solidarity to Starbucks union leaders in the US facing retaliation for union activity and to call for an end to the Starbucks’ aggressive unionbusting tactics.
- Since 2021, nearly 300 Starbucks locations across the United States have voted in favour of union representation; however, the company has responded with aggressive union-busting with over 100 union leaders terminated for organizing and 130 violations of the law in six states in the US
- During a hearing in the United States Senate, former CEO Howard Schultz was accused by lawmakers of running “the most aggressive and illegal union busting campaign in the modern history of our country”
- Fast-food workers across the globe have been coming together regularly to demand an end to union busting including most recently in November 2022 for the Fast Food Global Week of Action
Beto Sanchez, a Starbucks Workers United member, stated, “On behalf of Starbucks Workers United, I want to thank the IUF and its affiliates for their actions on April 11. The role that international solidarity has within our campaign and others continues to help pave the road for growth and power into workers’ hands here and all across the world. We hope to inspire and motivate workers everywhere to remember that there is an incredible power in numbers. Our fight against Starbucks’ union-busting campaign grows stronger everyday, and it will only be a matter of time until we get Starbucks to the table in good faith!”
