Protest Planned for Starbucks CEO at Harvard Business School

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/3/31/starbucks-union-locke-students/

By Mercer R. Cook, CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, March 31, 2011

Harvard students, union members, and Starbucks employees from around the country are planning to protest a lecture by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz at Harvard Business School on Friday.

Schultz will be speaking to several hundred Business School students on his experiences running a successful business while also be promoting his new book, “Onward.”

Liberté Locke, an organizer of the event, said Starbucks employees are angered by what they deem to be hypocrisy in Schultz’s book, in which he expresses his commitment to his “partners”—as the company calls its workers. Employees of the company, especially union members, feel that Starbucks is one of the least labor friendly companies in America, Locke said. Starbucks has been found guilty by the National Labor Relations Board of violating labor rights, including charges of union busting and wrongful termination.

“For Howie to sit around and claim how much he loves us, it’s just disgusting,” said Locke, a Starbucks barista and Starbucks Workers Union organizer from New York. “Starbucks is one of the biggest union busting corporations in the United States.”

Harvard union representatives said they planned to support Starbucks workers in the protest.

FULL story at link.

[pscot]

1. Starbucks personell policies

are a sham and a scam.

[juajen]

2. I have a child who has worked for Starbucks for almost four years

and her treatment by them has been very good. However, I am not sure about upper management. She has great benefits and is paid well. I do wish they had sick leave, as they used to have. When the flu bug hit here, there were a lot of people who felt compelled to come to work even while ill, and I'm afraid this aided in the spread of the flu, and this is the case for most hourly workers. They cannot afford to miss days from work, so they come in sick.