Starbucks will boost wages, trainings for some workers
AxiosMAR 28 2022
Schultz is purposely misinterpreting the law. By withholding benefits from unionized stores, Starbucks is violating federal labor laws and, with the help of Workers United, Schultz will be held responsible for his threatening and illegal behaviour. Starbucks workers need to unionize to protect their employment rights.
The announcement makes it clear that unions cannot even come close to the perks Starbucks can offer. Schultz's return as CEO has seen a rise in quarterly sales and profits that can now be used to invest in workers and operations. Rather than obstructing progress for workers in the company with complicated systems of representation, employees would be better off not-unionizing and benefiting from the changes Starbucks can make unilaterally.
Although the wave of unionization sweeping companies like Amazon and Starbucks should be celebrated, the current scale of worker organization stops short of posing a real challenge to corporate America. If union leaders are sincere in their wish to reverse the decline of the labor movement, they must push the spread of organization to further companies and collectivize power in whole sectors to consolidate workers' influence.