Starbucks announced Tuesday that it would increase wages and expand training at corporate locations across the United States. But it said the changes won’t apply to stores that have recently joined a union, or stores that may be in a union stage, such as those where workers have petitioned for union elections.
Speaking with investors to discuss the company’s quarterly results, the company’s CEO, Howard Schultz, said the spending would bring investment in employees and stores to nearly $1 billion for the fiscal year and it would help Starbucks increase customer traffic. hold.
“The investments will enable us to meet increased demand – and deliver greater profitability – while providing a better experience for our customers and reducing pressure on our partners,” said Mr. Schultz, quoting the term of the company. company for employees.
The initiative was announced after the union won the first votes in more than 50 Starbucks stores, including several this week.
The pay increases follow a commitment to raise the company’s minimum hourly wage to $15 this summer and include an increase of at least 5 percent for employees with two to five years of experience, or an increase of up to 5 percent above the starting wage in their market. which is bigger.
Employees with more than five years of experience will receive a raise of at least 7 percent, or an increase of up to 10 percent, above the starting wage in their market, whichever is greater.
The company will also increase salaries for store managers.
The plans also call for doubling the training hours that new baristas receive, as well as additional training for existing baristas and shift supervisors.
In a formal complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, the union that represents Starbucks’ new unionized workers — Workers United, a subsidiary of the Service Employees International Union — accused the company of coercing workers who voted in a union election by suggesting that it would bring new benefits if they were to unite.
The company said it was illegal by law to unilaterally impose wage and benefit increases in stores where employees have unionized or will soon vote on unionization. It noted that it must negotiate with a union about any wage or benefit changes.
But labor law experts said it could be illegal to withhold wages and benefits from only union workers or workers who vote for a union.
Matthew Bodie, a former labor council attorney who teaches law at Saint Louis University, said the announced pay increases could unlawfully affect so-called lab conditions believed to prevail during a union election by giving workers an incentive not to join the union. a trade union.
“If Starbucks were to say, ‘Stop the union campaign and you’ll get this pay rise and better benefits’, it would be clearly illegal,” Mr Bodie said by email. “It is difficult to see how this is so different in practice.”
Mr Bodie said the pay increases could also amount to a breach of the company’s obligation to negotiate in good faith, as they suggest an intent to give union workers a worse deal than non-union workers. “They should at least offer this package to the union,” added Mr. Bodie.
Reggie Borges, a Starbucks spokesperson, did not say whether the company would make the same proposals announced Tuesday during negotiations with union workers, but said, “Where Starbucks is required to engage in collective bargaining, Starbucks will always negotiate in good faith.”
Starbucks also said it planned to post leaflets in stores to keep employees informed, in which the company says the outcome of collective bargaining is uncertain and risky. “By collective bargaining, wages, benefits and working conditions can improve, decrease or remain the same,” reads one of the information sheets that are hung in the stores.
Such messages are common among employers dealing with union campaigns, but labor experts say it’s misleading because it’s highly unlikely that workers will see their compensation fall as a result of collective bargaining.
