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A Starbucks barista fulfills an order in a South Philadelphia store.
Mark Makela | Reuters
Starbucks said it will hike wages for tenured workers and double training for new employees as the company and its CEO, Howard Schultz, seek to beat back the union push from its baristas.
However, the coffee giant will not offer the enhanced benefits to workers at the roughly 50 company-owned cafes that have voted to unionize. Such changes at unionized stores would have to come through bargaining, Starbucks said.
“So, partners will receive these pay, benefits and store-improvement investments at all U.S. company-operated stores where Starbucks has the right to unilaterally make these changes,” the company said in a statement. “However, at stores where workers have union representation, federal law requires good faith bargaining over wages, benefits and working conditions which prohibits Starbucks from making or announcing unilateral changes.”
In total, Starbucks plans to spend $1 billion on wage hikes, improved training and store innovation during fiscal 2022, which ends in the fall. On Schultz’s first day back at the helm of the company, he suspended its buyback program to invest in workers and stores.
“The transformation will accelerate already record demand in our stores,” Schultz said on the company’s conference call on Tuesday. “But the investments will enable us to handle the increased demand — and deliver increased profitability — while also delivering an...
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