Ithaca Starbucks Workers United Solidarity Letter

Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE LETTER TO HOWARD SCHULTZ

Supporters include:

Ithaca DSA

Tompkins WFP

Tompkins County Workers' Center

NYS Poor People's Campaign, Eastern Southern Tier Region

Ithaca Teachers' Association Solidary Committee

Anna Kelles, NYS Assemblymember

Shawna Black, Chair, Tompkins County Legislature

Deborah Dawson, Vice Chair, Tompkins County Legislature

Veronica Pillar, Anne Koreman, Amanda Champion, and Gregory Mezey, Tompkins County Legislators

Phoebe Brown, Jorge DeFendini, Ducson Nguyen, Robert Cantelmo, Patrick Mehler, and George McGonigal, City of Ithaca Alderpersons

Want to add your organization to this list? Contact ithacaSBWU@gmail.com.

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TOMPKINS STANDS WITH STARBUCKS WORKERS UNITED

Howard Schultz
Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks
2401 Utah Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134

Dear Mr. Schultz,

For the past two years, service workers, including Starbucks employees, have been on the front lines of the pandemic.  They have been deemed essential and have risked infection on the job every day. COVID notwithstanding, the service industry is demanding, and the workers who serve the public deserve a safe workplace, fair wages, secure employment, and a voice on the job.

As of January 31st, employees at all three Starbucks locations in Ithaca New York  have filed petitions for union elections. They have joined Starbucks workers throughout the country in an unprecedented movement to unionize the company.

Ithaca and Tompkins County are proud of our workers who are driving the union movement because we recognize that the right to collectively bargain is essential to a just and democratic society. We support these workers’ efforts to organize, and we condemn any and all union-busting efforts by Starbucks management, e.g., the recent firing of the Memphis organizing committee, the majority of whom were people of color. We, the undersigned, will protect our reputation as a union town and support our courageous workers in their efforts to unionize.

We stand with Starbucks Workers United in calling on Starbucks to reinstate the Memphis Seven and sign the fair election principles:

1. The right to organize a union is a fundamental civil right essential to democracy.

2. If partners choose to unionize, there will be no negative repercussions from management.

3. Starbucks agrees not to make any implicit threats (lawful but unethical) or explicit threats (unlawful).

4. If Starbucks holds a meeting with partners on company time to discuss unionization, then the union may hold a meeting of equal length on company time. This holds true for one-on-one meetings or any discussions that Starbucks chooses to hold with partners during the union organizing effort. If Starbucks posts any anti-union material on its premises, it will provide Workers United equal space to post pro-union material.

5. Starbucks management must not bribe or threaten partners with higher or lower wages or benefits to gain support. Management will not make changes in wages and benefits that were not announced or decided upon prior to the commencement of the union campaign.

6. Principled disagreements are part of the campaign process but disparaging remarks about Workers United or the labor movement are not appropriate and not conducive to a spirit of mutual respect and harmony and should not be made. Additionally, ad hominem attacks against individuals are unacceptable.

7. If any partner feels they have been retaliated against in any manner due to their union activity, Starbucks will agree to resolve this immediately by a mutually agreed upon arbitrator. The partner would still have the right to go to the National Labor Relations Board.

8. A secret ballot election will be conducted by the NLRB or, if both parties agree, by an arbitrator or a neutral community organization. If at any time Starbucks Workers United secures a simple majority of authorization cards of the barista and shift supervisor partners within an appropriate bargaining unit, Starbucks shall recognize Workers United as the exclusive representative of such partners via a card check election.


Petition by
Ithaca Starbucks Workers United
Ithaca Starbucks Workers United
Ithaca, New York

To: Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO
From: [Your Name]

TOMPKINS STANDS WITH STARBUCKS WORKERS UNITED

Howard Schultz
Chief Executive Officer, Starbucks
2401 Utah Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98134

Dear Mr. Schultz,

For the past two years, service workers, including Starbucks employees, have been on the front lines of the pandemic. They have been deemed essential and have risked infection on the job every day. COVID notwithstanding, the service industry is demanding, and the workers who serve the public deserve a safe workplace, fair wages, secure employment, and a voice on the job.

As of January 31st, employees at all three Starbucks locations in Ithaca New York have filed petitions for union elections. They have joined Starbucks workers throughout the country in an unprecedented movement to unionize the company.

Ithaca and Tompkins County are proud of our workers who are driving the union movement because we recognize that the right to collectively bargain is essential to a just and democratic society. We support these workers’ efforts to organize, and we condemn any and all union-busting efforts by Starbucks management, e.g., the recent firing of the Memphis organizing committee, the majority of whom were people of color. We, the undersigned, will protect our reputation as a union town and support our courageous workers in their efforts to unionize.

We stand with Starbucks Workers United in calling on Starbucks to reinstate the Memphis Seven and sign the fair election principles:

1. The right to organize a union is a fundamental civil right essential to democracy.

2. If partners choose to unionize, there will be no negative repercussions from management.

3. Starbucks agrees not to make any implicit threats (lawful but unethical) or explicit threats (unlawful).

4. If Starbucks holds a meeting with partners on company time to discuss unionization, then the union may hold a meeting of equal length on company time. This holds true for one-on-one meetings or any discussions that Starbucks chooses to hold with partners during the union organizing effort. If Starbucks posts any anti-union material on its premises, it will provide Workers United equal space to post pro-union material.

5. Starbucks management must not bribe or threaten partners with higher or lower wages or benefits to gain support. Management will not make changes in wages and benefits that were not announced or decided upon prior to the commencement of the union campaign.

6. Principled disagreements are part of the campaign process but disparaging remarks about Workers United or the labor movement are not appropriate and not conducive to a spirit of mutual respect and harmony and should not be made. Additionally, ad hominem attacks against individuals are unacceptable.

7. If any partner feels they have been retaliated against in any manner due to their union activity, Starbucks will agree to resolve this immediately by a mutually agreed upon arbitrator. The partner would still have the right to go to the National Labor Relations Board.

8. A secret ballot election will be conducted by the NLRB or, if both parties agree, by an arbitrator or a neutral community organization. If at any time Starbucks Workers United secures a simple majority of authorization cards of the barista and shift supervisor partners within an appropriate bargaining unit, Starbucks shall recognize Workers United as the exclusive representative of such partners via a card check election.