With the salary increase set to start on Starbucks In cafes across the United States on Monday, labor organizers are asking the coffee giant to extend benefits to union stores without having to go through a bargaining process.
The request was made after Starbucks announced in May that it will raise wages for workers and add other benefits like credit card limits later this year. However, the Seattle-based coffee chain said it would not offer enhanced benefits to workers at union stores because they would need to go through negotiations to implement such changes.
In a letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz According to CNBC, the company said it can legally provide benefits to employees at union stores without bargaining, as long as the union agrees. The letter notes other company-wide benefits announced in recent months, including faster accumulation of sick time and reimbursement for medical travel expenses for employees who want abortions or certified care. gender again.
“United workers refuse to stand while Starbucks skeptically promises new benefits only to non-union workers and keeps them with our members,” letter from Lynne Fox, President of the Workers, sent Schultz last month.
The letter notes that the union does not waive any other bargaining obligations Starbucks has under federal law.
About 200 Starbucks stores have affiliated so far, while 40 have voted not to join, according to the National Labor Relations Board. Starbucks has approximately 9,000 locations in the US
When contacted about the union’s request, Starbucks pointed to a bulletin on its website that reads: “The law is very clear: once a store merges, no changes to benefits are allowed otherwise. collective bargaining.”
The company’s website says workers have access to Starbucks benefits that were in place when the union lawsuit was filed, but any subsequent changes to wages, benefits and working conditions must be negotiated.
Labor lawyers say the case could end up before an administrative law judge at the National Labor Relations Board.
“Once the union has been certified, the employer is obligated to negotiate with the union before it is registered,” said Stephen Holroyd, attorney at Jennings Sigmond, who has represented the union and worked for the NLRB. make any changes to the terms and conditions of employment.
But he said that having the coalition unravel the interests without negotiation would change the situation, and it could be argued that Starbucks is withholding the benefits of its own campaign.
Daniel Sobol, an attorney at Stevens & Lee who has represented the companies in union lawsuits, said the NLRB and federal courts have disagreed on the issue.
“If [benefit enhancements are] he said. But with employers adjusting wages in an inflationary environment, he said Starbucks may not be obligated to raise wages for corporate employees.
Gabe Frumkin, an attorney for Starbucks Workers United, said it’s clear that benefits are being offered in response to a union push. He said United Workers had filed two charges related to Starbucks’ wage and benefits announcements for non-monetary stores and was looking at other options.
Catherine Creighton, director of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Industrial Relations in Buffalo, New York, said the law requires companies to notify unions of a new benefit and an opportunity to bargain. But, she said, “if the union says they have no objection, the employer can absolutely give them that right.”
The pay increases that will go into effect this week include a rise of at least 5% or a rise to 5% above market rates, whichever is higher, for employees with at least two years of experience. Employees with more than five years of experience receive a salary increase of at least 7% or 10% above the market rate, whichever is higher. This increase is in addition to a spike that was announced earlier this month that sent wages up floor $15 an hour nationwide. That increase is available to stores that didn’t start the organization before it was announced.
Starbucks said it plans to spend $1 billion on salary increases, training improvements and store renovations in fiscal 2022. When Schultz returns to the role of CEO for the third time, he suspended the company’s buyback program to invest in workers and stores.
