How things are going with Starbucks' union talks
Seattle coffee giant Starbucks resumed negotiations with employees seeking to unionize some of its stores this week, however, Noam Scheiber who covers workplace issues for The New York Times tells KUOW that the bargaining did not last long.
"Company officials got upset that union representatives were trying to broadcast the session on Zoom, and were upset that they were trying to record the session. So they all ended pretty quickly," Scheiber told KUOW.
Scheiber says unionization efforts have slowed in recent months, and it's unclear whether union employees will achieve concessions in writing.
Starbucks has approximately 9,000 company-owned stores across the United States. Employees at about 250 stores have voted to unionize over the last year. Starbucks responded by increasing benefits and pay at non-union stores.
The National Labor Relations Board is exploring those actions. The company says federal law prevents it from offering certain benefits to unionized stores during bargaining.
Read Scheiber's full conversation with KUOW here.
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John O'Brien
Senior Producer, All Things Considered
John O’Brien is KUOW's All Things Considered Senior Producer. He spends his days setting up interviews with newsmakers on subjects from politics and public health to arts and culture. John learned to make radio starting in 2006 as an intern on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds.
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