By Gavin Fridell, Counter Punch
|
After six years of intense battles, two strikes, a hunger strike, and four legal sentences for anti-union activities, Starbucks reluctantly agreed to sign a collective agreement with unionized workers in Chile in May 2015. This was a huge concession for the world's largest coffee shop chain that has long aggressively fought off unionization efforts among its 150,000 employees in 64 countries.
"In the end, to humanize capitalism is like humanizing war," says union president Andrés Giordano Salazar, reflecting on the fierce struggles he and others have waged against the company, "no matter how much you disguise it, it is still going to be bloody and cruel."
In a global food and retail industry notorious for anti-union activities, and for cutting wages, benefits, and full time positions to keep profits high,[1] Starbucks has long been able to maintain a reputation as a leader in "corporate social responsibility." The company offers relatively better pay and benefits than many low-pay, low-benefit competitors, although it has received significant criticism[2] for its scheduling and sick days policies.
As is so often the case with "corporate social responsibility," usually more about branding and marketing than anything else, Starbucks' ethical claims are replete with contradictions and limitations. Well-known for its support of fair trade coffee, for instance, few "ethical consumers" realize that only 8.6% of its coffee beans[3] are independently certified as fair trade. Starbucks has its own program for the remainder of its beans, without genuine independent verification and weaker standards.[4] |
