Menendez, Booker urge Starbucks CEO to advance negotiations with NJ Starbucks Workers United
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-N.J.), Wednesday sent a letter to Starbucks, urging its CEO, Howard Schultz, to stop delaying the negotiations with four unionized New Jersey Starbucks stores and negotiate in good faith with them as required by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).
The stores located in Hopewell Township, Hamilton, Summit and Montclair, have been waiting between six and 10 months to form a first collective bargaining agreement, as required by NLRA.
“In forming these unions, our constituents have demanded commonsense requests like pay increases for the augmentation of their responsibilities due to the pandemic, higher quality training, more consistent scheduling, health and safety improvements, and the protection of benefits for part-time workers,” wrote the senators to Schultz. “Whether you agree or disagree with these proposals, the National Labor Relations Act provides all New Jerseyans the right to bargain in good faith with you as their employer regarding their pay, hours, and workplace conditions.”
On May 4, 2022, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the first New Jersey union at a Starbucks store in Hopewell Township with the employees voting unanimously to form a union. Since then, despite Starbucks’ anti-union behavior, three other stores in the state have voted to unionize.
“Despite the first store in New Jersey unionizing over 10 months ago, and despite the first store nationwide unionizing over a year ago, your company has yet to form a first contract with our unionized constituents at your stores,” the senators said. “We do not expect Starbucks to immediately accept all of the proposals made by the union. However, we urge you to sit down with union representatives in an honest attempt to form a collective bargaining contract in accordance with requirements set forth under the NLRA.”
The senators also pointed to a recent complaint against Starbucks filed by NLRB prosecutors where they accuse the company of not bargaining fairly at 21 stores in the Pacific Northwest. The complaint alleges that the company “failed and refused to provide and/or delayed in providing the Union with dates for an initial first contract bargaining sessions or sessions…despite the Union’s multiple offers of bargaining dates and requests for dates.”
“While Starbucks has gone to great lengths to present itself as a company that takes care of its employees, going so far as to call employees ‘partners,’ it appears the reality is detached from this brand image,” the senators said. “These negotiation delays seem to fit an anti-union pattern that are simply unacceptable. As New Jerseyans and Americans, these baristas are entitled to dignity in the workplace.”
Sens. Menendez and Booker urged Schultz to stop the unacceptable delay in these negotiations and requested a written response by March 27, 2023 that explains the most recent actions Starbucks has taken to advance good faith negotiations with the union in New Jersey.
