Spokesman Reggie Borges told Fast Company that Starbucks believes its success has already been built “on direct engagement with our more than 400,000 partners around the world.” The view from Seattle headquarters is that the company encourages employees to discuss what’s on their mind at weekly listening sessions, from wages and COVID-19 safety protocols to work-life balance, and works to respond to them. While starting pay is still below $12 an hour in some markets, Starbucks increased wages twice over the past year, including by 10% at the end of 2020—a move it called “one of the most substantial investments in pay in our company’s history.” It closed stores at the height of the pandemic and rolled out additional benefits, such as day care for partners with children at home.

But workers counter that, right now, the point is just to resolve their lack of bargaining power. Brian Murray, a barista behind the union organizing letter, has responded that they “don’t need listening sessions and patronizing remarks from corporate. With a union we’ll have a real say and a democracy in each workplace.”

Another high-profile labor voice—Sara Nelson, head of the 50,000-member Association of Flight Attendants—put it this way when she spoke out yesterday in favor of unionizing: Kevin Johnson would never show up to work without a contract. Why should baristas?

This story has been updated to correct a transcription error regarding the number of partners cited by Starbucks.

Read the full article at: www.fastcompany.com