Last night, I filmed a rally outside the apartment of Howard Schultz, current CEO of Starbucks. Schultz returned in April to the position of CEO after six years of retirement. The company is trying to resist a unionization effort by employees, while Shultz returns to stop worker efforts. In his memoir “Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time.” Schultz wrote, “I was convinced that under my leadership, employees would come to realize that I would listen to their concerns. If they had faith in me and my motives, they wouldn’t need a union.”
Recently, Schultz said, “Now, I’ve said publicly I’m not anti-union, but the history of unions is based on the fact that companies in the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s abused their people. We’re not in a coal mining business; we’re not abusing our people.”
While Schultz had no direct responsibility for the demise of St. Vincents Hospital, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that he was living in a building that displaced a once-great hospital; gee, how capitalistic.
At the rally, Larry Holmes of the Workers Assembly tells us that we need mass mobilization to combat the union-busting tactics of Starbucks and Amazon. These corporations are doing everything to eliminate unions in their companies while they, like others, are making record profits. Profits due to hard-working employees. Lower wages of American workers make it difficult to manage during these inflationary times. The U.S. poverty rate is higher than most countries in Europe. Lower wages also help to create gentrification and, in some cases, homelessness.
Stand up to the capitalist behavior of Starbucks and Amazon and support union workers.
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