In Their Grievances, Workers Contend Starbucks Is Busting Unions

At a meeting that MarketWatch attended, officials from a coffee chain's union told Silicon Valley's Ro Khanna that the business "has repeatedly embarrassed us and has not respected us."

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U.S. employees of Starbucks Corp. The corporation, according to Rep. Ro Khanna, is not bargaining in good faith and is retaliating against workers who join unions or attempt to do so. He made this claim at his California office on Friday.

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The large coffee chain disputes the charges. However, what the Democratic congressman from Silicon Valley heard from Starbucks SBUX, -0.41% workers and union representatives Friday in a meeting attended by MarketWatch echoes other complaints from across the country that the company is engaging in union-busting. He vowed to continue to try to ensure the employees are treated fairly.

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Santa Cruz County employee Edith Saldano sat next to the congressman and informed him that the corporation "has embarrassed us over and over again and has not appreciated us." Saldano claimed that during her store's first negotiation session in November, Starbucks' lawyers left after three minutes.

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Saldano battled back tears as she recalled how she had "waited all day" and missed out on a day's worth of employment that she truly needed because, at the time, she was "houseless" in a region with a high cost of living. The proposed employee contract was sent to Khanna.

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Saldano said that she also serves on the national bargaining committee and stated, "We're asking that you read it over and that you talk to them.

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I respect you for battling not only for yourself but for everyone, Khanna told Saldano as she agreed to look at it.

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Over the years, the congressman has taken pride in his pro-labor stance and support of low-wage workers like Silicon Valley janitors and California's fast-food workers. Khanna told the Starbucks staff on Friday that he has also spoken with the company's unionized workers in Los Angeles and that he hopes to persuade the company to change its stance toward the expanding unionization movement at hundreds of its stores. The company is in transition, and its new chief executive is scheduled to officially take over in a few months.

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The National Labor Relations Board has charged Starbucks with illegally terminating employees who have joined a union, and the business is being sued on hundreds of counts of labor law violations. Several of those cases resulted in court decisions that the corporation lost. In response, Starbucks has complained to the NLRB, charging that the union did not bargain in good faith.

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In Khanna's office on Friday, a few other Starbucks staff members who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for their safety offered moving testimony on their unionization efforts at a store in the Bay Area. They talked about being overworked and understaffed in physically demanding positions, as well as having their hours cut so drastically that they are no longer eligible for benefits.

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One of the workers claimed, "They work us to the bone until we're too exhausted, then we're replaced with cheaper baristas. We're banding together because we are helpless as individuals.

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The other claimed that employees "need the support of legislators" and other authorities since Starbucks "is controlling the market by any means necessary."

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The possibility of reprisal by the employer, according to Brandon Dawkins, vice president of organizing for SEIU Local 1021, is also "throwing fear into stores that want to unionize... they see what the unionized workers are going through."

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According to Khanna, "this will be a priority for me just as last Congress," and he went on to explain how he intends to continue to attempt to assist. Khanna applauded the staff for their "courage."

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Starbucks has "came to the table" for more than 85 bargaining meetings at various outlets since October, according to spokesperson Andrew Trull, who called claims that the business has not negotiated in good faith "just incorrect."

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Trull stated that throughout each meeting with Workers United, union leaders confronted Starbucks and insisted on live-streaming the meetings to those who weren't there and, in some cases, shared sections of the meetings online.

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According to Trull, Starbucks has a long-standing practice of altering store hours to match seasonal fluctuations in customer demand. This is in response to claims that the company is restricting the number of hours available to employees who unionize.

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The company is complicating meeting scheduling by not allowing bargaining committee members unpaid time off, the union and the company have agreed to virtual bargaining sessions, and the union introduces participants for every meeting, according to a spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United. Longtime Starbucks employees claim that "the current pattern of reducing hours does not fit the history in the company."

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Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz declined last week to testify before a Senate committee that wanted to question him about claims that the business had broken labor laws.

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In a letter to Sanders, the firm offered its chief public relations officer, Al Jones, to testify before the committee in Schultz's place because Schultz is stepping down as CEO.

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In a statement last week, Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he intended "to hold Mr. Schultz and Starbucks accountable for their terrible actions."

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Khanna and 30 other politicians wrote to Schultz in October pleading with him and the business to cooperate with the unions that have developed at hundreds of Starbucks locations around the country.

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Since then, Starbucks executives have communicated with the congressman's office, letting them know that the corporation is allowing employees to use their rights under the National Labor Relations Act.

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Khanna informed the staff on Friday that he had communicated with Laxman Narasimhan, the next CEO of Starbucks, and anticipates meeting with him once he takes office on April 1.

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By approaching him and some of the board members I know, Khanna expressed hope that they could realize the importance of allowing for decent unionization and appropriate terms. He made reference to Microsoft Corp. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is a board member of Starbucks. Last year, Microsoft and the Communications Workers of America reached a neutrality agreement.