The union representing more than 300 Starbucks locations is turning up the heat on the corporation’s board to accept the union — with billboards, a brass band and even a butter sculpture.
Starbucks hasn’t agreed to a contract with any stores that have voted to unionize under Starbucks Workers United, and workers have said the coffee chain is acting in bad faith.
In the meantime, Starbucks workers plan to grab the attention Monday of Nike CEO Andrew Campion, Land O’Lakes CEO Beth Ford and Lego Chairman Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, all of whom sit on Starbucks’ board of directors.
For Campion, baristas will perform a skit accompanied by a brass band at Nike's flagship location in New York City and operate a mobile billboard truck asking him to “Just Do It” at the apparel company’s Oregon headquarters, according to reports.
Then there’s Ford, who will receive a sculpture made — fittingly — out of butter at the company’s Twin Cities headquarters.
For Knudstorp, the union plans to hand out Lego Star Wars-style posters at Legoland in San Diego comparing former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to Darth Vader and him to Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Starbucks has been in hot water lately over alleged union busting. In a hearing last week, Schultz faced questions from Senator Bernie Sanders and others, during which he denied that the company ever acted illegally — despite judges finding that Starbucks broke federal labor law 130 times.
The hearing came after Starbucks shareholders voted in favor of a third-party probe into the company’s commitment to workers’ rights.
The ensuing weeks haven’t exactly been inspiring for workers. Starbucks Workers United said over the weekend that the company fired Alexis Rizzo, the employee responsible for igniting the union push more than a year and a half ago in Buffalo, New York.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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