Professional Documents
Culture Documents
22 April 2022
Introduction
victory that would spark a nationwide movement: they successfully voted to unionize the first
corporate Starbucks location in the United States. Just five months later, nearly 190 stores of
America’s beloved coffee chain have initiated the unionization process, and ten locations have
already achieved victory (Hsu, 2022). Now, there is at least one unionized Starbucks in New
York, Arizona, Tennessee, and Washington State (Hsu, 2022). There is no doubt that the
unionization sentiment has spread swiftly between Starbucks stores, and the number of
successful unions will likely continue to increase. The unionization efforts highlight a large-scale
dissatisfaction with senior Starbucks leadership, and the situation has been elevated to a crisis
due to Starbucks’ reported handling of the union filings. Numerous outlets have reported that
Starbucks is using “union-busting” tactics to prevent additional elections from taking place.
Baristas have reported the deliberate firing or hours-slashing of pro-Union employees, peculiar
hiring of new staff to skew votes, a barrage of anti-Union messages, and more (Hsu, 2022).
Starbucks’ response to the crisis has been to limit the capability of baristas to unionize through
legal action and shifting company policies, throughout which there has been a lack of insight
given to the general public. The position of Starbucks as a large U.S. employer and international
company elevates this issue as a true organizational crisis. Their response to the crisis may have
direct consequences on their brand’s reputation and overall sales, while also setting an example
for how other publicly traded companies should respond to workplace discontentment. Starbucks
has an opportunity to lead by example, but the company’s current union-busting strategy and
lack of clear response to the public has been a detriment to their reputation.
Unions are an important part of America’s history and to understand the unionization
efforts of Starbucks, one must first understand unions and labor movements. Unions and how
they operate vary depending on the scale, the company, and national or international status.
However, they are all typically formed, and continue to thrive, under the same agenda: to
negotiate for higher wages and benefits as well as improve conditions in the workplace
(AFL-CIO, 2022). Unions haven’t always been prominent in America, nor were they accepted by
the federal and state governments. Unions were the main focus for labor movements throughout
cities in the Industrial Revolution. These labor movements were focused on stopping child labor,
fighting for reasonable hours, requesting health benefits, and providing aid to workers who were
injured or retired (Budd, 2010). Unions focused on these goals by advocating for the workers.
In the 1806 landmark case Commonwealth v. Pullis, it was determined that that the
citizen and state” (Becker, 1987). Because of this, unions were extremely rare, workers’
conditions in the continuing Industrial Revolution were dangerous, and wages were low. It
wasn’t until 1842 through Commonwealth v. Hunt, that the Supreme Court transformed unions
from “criminal conspiracies into legitimate participants in the American political economy”
(Becker, 1987). Through this, unions were seen increasingly throughout the country by the turn
of the twentieth century, and were written into contracts with employers.
Today, nearly all organizations, companies, school districts, and more have unions to
advocate for staff and employees. In addition, people are encountering unions and labor
movements in their late teens/early twenties rather than thirties and forties (Fine & Gordon,
2010). Unions today don’t have to fight for child labor or even for 80+ hour work weeks like
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A shoemaker who creates shoes out of new leather
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they did in the 18- and 1900s. However, they do work on things like making sure overtime is
paid and optional, ensuring consistency of pay and benefits with the cost of living, enforcing
vacation and sick leave, guaranteeing that medical or familial appointments aren’t penalized, and
maintaining consistent and flexible schedules (AFL-CIO, 2022). Although unions today have
gained popularity and more responsibilities, they still maintain foundations from their original
Starbucks has faced unionization efforts before, and while none have reached quite the
consistent theme within the company. One such effort began in 2004 when baristas in New York
called on Starbucks to raise wages, establish guaranteed work hours, and create a culture of
respect. These issues are acutely similar to those raised by the present day unionization
movement. According to labor relations scholars Staughton Lynd and Daniel Gross (2007), the
effort in 2004 was accomplished through “solidarity unionism,” which is when labor organizing
occurs between peers within an organization. Baristas relied on each other to create strategies to
initiate change making and build solidarity between locations (Lynd & Gross, 2007). Solidarity
unionism is akin to grassroots organizing, but one could argue that it also took place during the
present-day unionization effort. Lynd and Gross (2007) assert that solidarity unionism is unique,
because Starbucks workers in 2004 were not authorized to file for an official Union election. An
archaic rule in the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) made it impossible for
Starbucks workers at one location to unionize without incorporating votes from regional stores.
This rule was the saving grace for Starbucks in 2004, but that guideline has since been
disempowered, which is why single stores are voting to unionize in 2021 and 2022. In spite of
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that, solidarity unionism achieved big wins for those in New York in 2004: they were able to
raise overall wages by 25% and receive work week assurances. The last key takeaway from Lynd
and Gross’ (2007) study is the similarity in how Starbucks treated the baristas seeking to
unionize less than two decades ago. The authors document the lived experiences of baristas who
were harassed and belittled, and the stories are strikingly similar to current allegations of
corporate misconduct. Failing to address the concerns of employees almost two decades ago
likely contributed to the rapid success of the current unionization movement, which has garnered
national support. According to polling from More Perfect Union, they found that 67% of
individuals in the U.S. agree that Starbucks workers need a union, while just 47% agreed with
Starbucks’ assertion that unions “create tension in the workplace and make it harder to do
business” (Zakarin, 2022). The perception of the public is clear: in the case of Starbucks, a union
is needed, regardless of the tension it may cause between employees and corporate staff. The
public’s support is a powerful tool for the union campaign, and it reflects the lack of an effective
As Starbucks navigates a crisis that has gained tremendous momentum in a short amount
of time, their communication objectives and strategy must be well reasoned and precisely
executed. Unfortunately, while Starbucks’ objectives are clear, their strategy has been less
cohesive. The company’s paramount objective is to maintain a positive reputation among their
key publics, which includes their customers and the board of directors. The ability to reconcile
the needs of these competing interest groups is a primary concern for Starbucks. Investors rarely
want to see business costs increase (like wages, improved benefits for employees, etc), while
Starbucks’ customer base wants to see forward-thinking leadership that aligns with the
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company’s proclaimed values of inclusivity and social responsibility (“Culture and Values”,
n.d.). Another objective for the company is to mitigate the public awareness of the unionization
efforts. News organizations have not ceased their coverage of the story, but Starbucks social
media has not interacted or commented on the issue. Deliberately mitigating commentary around
this crisis may help maintain an aura of ignorance for some customers and reduce damage to
reputation. The final objective for Starbucks has been to resolve the union outcry with swift and
decisive legal action. The company has likely spent a significant amount of money on
challenging NLRB election filings, vote counts and procedures. The legal approach has seen
success in preventing a handful of union votes, but as more stores file paperwork to initiate
election proceedings, it will become more difficult for Starbucks to respond on a per-store basis.
The strategy Starbucks has employed to accomplish these objectives is one of excusal
and reminding stakeholders of the company’s merit. The excusal strategy is described by
renowned communications specialist Dr. Timothy Coombs (2014) as occurring when a company
concerns of pandemic benefits being ended prematurely, as well as wage stagnation and price
increases despite record breaking profits, Starbucks has been dismissive. The company uses the
pandemonium of the pandemic as its shield in some areas (price raises due to supply chain
issues), but then simultaneously removes policies that were implemented to assist workers in
handling COVID-19. Excuse-driven communication comes to full fruition when coupled with
another tactic Starbucks is utilizing: the reminder strategy. Coombs (2014) describes this strategy
as occurring when a company highlights their good doings to minimize the magnitude of an
ongoing crisis. As more stores see election victories, and other stores see losses, Starbucks’
official press room has been entirely dedicated to releases and stories about new initiatives the
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company is launching around employee success, sustainability, racial justice, and more. As
pro-Union grumbles were heard prior to the unionization in Buffalo, New York, Starbucks
announced an across the board employee wage increase starting the Summer of 2022 (“Starbucks
Makes Historic…”, 2021). Since then, Starbucks spokespeople have pointed to this initiative,
alongside others they have announced, as showing their commitment to their employees’
wellbeing. The company is constantly using its platform to remind its publics of the progressive
direction Starbucks has taken, especially when compared to companies of similar size. By not
addressing the crisis directly through written communication, Starbucks is hoping to make its
customers proud of the company. The company’s message has been primarily espoused verbally
by a few spokespersons and Starbucks’ new CEO, Howard Schultz. Starbucks emphasizes their
willingness to work directly with their baristas, but they are not keen to work with a Union
intermediary. Regardless, a limited response strategy has its downsides and could be perceived
February of 2022, when a store in Mesa, Arizona became the second store in the nation to
unionize. This second store created a domino effect not only in the unionization efforts, but also
on the media reporting. Large media companies such as CNN, CNBC, Time, Forbes, and the
New York Times all reported on various stages of the unionization efforts. Most of the articles
show the movement in a positive light, and either openly or subtly condemn Starbucks for their
actions and part in the movement. In the Scheiber (2022) writes in his New York Times article
Starbucks Workers Vote for Union at an Arizona Store that “[Starbucks] has generally sought to
challenge the union store by store, contesting the voting pool for each election before the labor
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board and sending company officials to cities where workers have filed for elections, partly to
share its concerns about unionizing” (Scheiber, 2022). Smith (2022) wrote on a similar theme in
his Forbes article, Arizona Starbucks votes to unionize in first such victory outside New York on
CNN Business and CNBC have both reported from a more neutral Standpoint. Both of
these media companies have reported on the actions taken and on both the benefits and
downsides to the Starbucks unionization movement. For example, CNN Business (2022)
references previous Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz returning because of his experience with
dealing with unions (Isidore, 2022). This takes a larger scope of the situation rather than just a
store by store viewpoint. However, in an earlier article from November of 2021, CNN Business
does criticize Schultz for his press appearances and handling of the unionization movement. In
this specific article, Schlutz compare current workers to Holocaust victims, saying that the
employees need to toughen up and that they have it good. This is completely inappropriate and
as CNN stated, “out of touch” (Valinsky, 2021). Other news coverage has included unique
viewpoints, such as Garone’s article on how Gen Z specifically is changing how a unionization
In terms of the Starbucks unionization crisis there are several strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats that play a major role in determining future actions to be taken to
improve crisis management and communication, not only in this case study but also for future
crises. Most of the strengths that Starbucks can utilize have to do with their established
reputation and their role as a major internationalized corporation. The first would be that
Starbucks has many owned platforms (twitter, instagram, website, etc) that allow them to control
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the public appearance of the corporation. Starbucks also has a lot of resources that benefit them
in terms of media control. Connections and extensive financial resources allow Starbucks to
control what the media communicates and to what extent it is communicated. The exception to
this would be media outlets that do not give in to the pressures. Starbucks also has the advantage
of having a very loyal customer base. These customers come regularly to the locations,
regardless of price or what public relations crisis Starbucks may be going through at that
moment. Starbucks’ weaknesses in dealing with public relations crises go hand in hand with their
strengths. Due to Starbucks being a publicly traded company there are multiple responsibilities
that come with that status. This includes proactively handling any issues since negative press can
affect stock price and upset stakeholders. In addition, public companies such as Starbucks are
expected to have a certain level of transparency since their dealings affect more than just the
corporation itself. These factors mean that there is a huge amount of news coverage that can
occur when Starbucks does not handle a PR crisis within an appropriate time frame or within the
The opportunities and threats that Starbucks faces in a PR crisis vary from situation to
situation. For this reason the following opportunities and threats are directly correlated to the
ongoing unionization movement case being studied. Since the Starbucks corporation has not
released any official statements, the opportunities of this PR crisis have a great chance for
success. As mentioned, the CEO of Starbucks did step down partially due to the critique on the
handling of the unionization movement of the Starbucks stores. Starbucks therefore has the
unique opportunity to have a CEO selection process that includes the public, partially repairing
some of the damage done. Choosing a CEO who is not known for union busting and has a good
reputation for caring for employees would also be a huge reputation boost for Starbucks. While
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these actions may take a while to execute, there are also some immediate actions Starbucks may
take advantage of, like highlighting existing or new programs that are implemented to improve
employee’s working conditions and quality of life. This would allow Starbucks to mitigate the
negative situations that the unionization movement is publicizing. One other opportunity is to set
a positive standard for how a large-scale corporation should fairly handle unionization concerns
and/or movements. There are multiple threats that may affect the handling of these opportunities:
sales going down, lack of positive media coverage, employment crisis, and deteriorating
towards Starbucks may decrease which in turn lowers sales and reputation. Lack of positive
media coverage also lowers the reputation further. The handling of the movement can also cause
Through the online survey platform Qualtrics, 73 participants ranging in age from 18 to
85 were asked about their opinion of Starbucks post-knowledge of the company’s handling of
union efforts. This survey was sent to classes in the Communications degree program, family
members, and shared on social media platforms of the authors to conduct the survey. This led to
a large variety of responses, ages, and races to pull data from. To understand who is contributing
to the discussion, demographics are needed. The majority of the participants were female
(64.3%) and Caucasian (72.6%). In terms of racial demographics, participants were able to select
multiple races they identify with. Hispanic/Latinx (15%) was the second highest race following
caucasions, and six percent preferred not to say. There was a significant number of college
students ages 18 to 24 years that responded at about 71.2 percent, followed by the category 55 or
older (15%).
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The survey started by asking participants their consumption habits and opinions of
Starbucks: “How often do you go to Starbucks,'' and “What is your opinion of the company as a
whole.” These questions were then followed by a description of the union efforts and Starbucks’s
response. A change in consumer usage was then investigated by asking, “how likely are you to
visit Starbucks/purchase their products” and “do you agree or disagree with how Starbucks is
handling their stores unionizing.” The average response to the opinion on the unionization
movement was moderate with a 3.24 out of a 5-point Likert scale. This is largely due to the
majority of answers being squarely in the middle at “neither positive nor negative.” The overall
perception of Starbucks as a corporation was low at 2.12 (out of 5) and the average score was
2.66 for the likelihood of purchasing Starbucks continuing forward. Beyond this survey,
Starbucks has seemed to lose favor with the public due to their disregard for workers’ efforts to
unionize, specifically in Gen Z, ages ten to 25. Gen Z has been instrumental in the Starbucks
unionization efforts by supporting the workers, moving to unionize themselves, and voicing their
concerns over the problem via social media and taking their business elsewhere. As seen in the
survey results, the Gen Z population is removing their support from Starbucks, because they are
more likely to support companies that align with their values and viewpoints, which include
Starbucks has failed to communicate their handling and positioning within the
unionization movement at their stores effectively with the public. The goals of Starbucks as a
corporation in a crisis are to (1) maintain a positive reputation among their key publics, which
includes their customers and the board of directors, (2) mitigate the public awareness of the
unionization efforts, and (3) resolve the union outcry with swift and decisive legal action.
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Starbucks has failed to achieve any of their three goals. Instead, they have tried to distract the
public with other equity movements or products through the reminder strategy, the lack of
interaction on the movement on social media or through a public statement, and consistent union
busting actions to muffle the union outcry instead of solving it. In order for Starbucks to
effectively maintain their customer brand loyalty and their reputation, it is critical that Starbucks
takes a clear and public stance on the issue, no matter the content of that stance.
“Do take the high road, discussing facts, not emotions. Do select an appropriate
spokesperson - who may not be the CEO. Do be prepared; start when signs of
possible trouble emerge, if not before. Don't get into a spitting contest with union
leaders, trying to show who is tougher. Don't go into a comms bunker and refuse
to talk to the media. Don't neglect to prepare consistent messages for all key
audiences” (Frank, 2003).
Starbucks clearly has not taken any of these Do or Don’t actions that John Frank (2003)
recommendations are to be minded. Bill Murray, SVP in public affairs and crisis
communications for The MWW Group says, “One of the biggest mistakes that businesses
action” (Frank, 2003). No communication about the issue with the public is a huge
drawback to their crisis communication effectiveness. Not only does this make it seem
like Starbucks is too important to deal with this issue, but it also prohibits Starbucks from
telling their side and possibly guiding the narrative to be more positive.
Starbucks also needs to respond to the public critique on social media of their crisis in a
timely manner. For example, when hundreds of stores are complaining about their work situation
publicly, Starbucks needs to reply in a public space to show their empathy towards the situation.
That would include a response like follows, “Hey [name of complaint origin], thanks for
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bringing this to our attention. We at Starbucks want all of our employees to feel supported and
part of the Starbucks family. Please DM us so we can see how to resolve this.” This response
does not require Starbucks to take a stance on unionization, but rather create a feeling of being
heard towards. If actions such as these had occurred earlier, Starbucks might have avoided a
greater deal of social media backlash. These actions being recommended do require a lot of
monitoring that Starbucks may choose not to invest in or deem as necessary. If that is the case,
Starbucks as a corporation should at the bare minimum release an official press release when a
large issue is circulating the company’s reputation, such as the unionization movement at their
stores. This press release will not only keep workers updated on the actions Starbucks is taking,
but also inform the public, stakeholders, and journalists. This does not have to be an incredibly
long press release, but one that sets up clearly the actions that Starbucks is taking. Even if those
actions are not what the public may want to see, this at least tells the public that Starbucks is
doing something.
In this specific case study, it is recommended that Starbucks responds and directly
addresses union demands. This includes but is not limited to: pay disparity between different
employee roles, price increases, poor working conditions. After the unionization movement and
points of action have been addressed and acted upon fully, Starbucks should also release a
detailed press release describing how the company will handle the stores that want to unionize,
any future unionization efforts, and/or their stance(s) in general. This sets a precedent not only
for future cases within Starbucks, but also for other corporations that will eventually deal with
unionization as well. If these recommendations are accounted for in future Starbucks PR crisis
responses, their overall reputation within the crisis will stay further intact and the public approval
Appendix
Strengths Weaknesses
issues due to its size and financial being transparent, which can harm
Opportunities Threats
hire a CEO that cares about worker’s Starbucks as strongly due to their
● Set the standard for a corporation to ● Not reacting publicly makes Starbucks
effectively and fairly handle seem like they don’t care about what is
growing
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