Howard Schultz begs Starbucks managers bust up union drive

Starbucks’ billionaire boss Howard Schultz demanded that local and regional managers of his coffee chain forcefully intervene and help the Seattle-based coffee giant defeat a rising tide of unionization.

Newly leaked video obtained by the pro-labor news site More Perfect Union shows Schultz — who retook the reins as interim CEO last month — and another top executive implore the managers to “do your role…of us union-busting all over the country.”

Rossann Williams, Starbucks’ president for North America, told the managers in the same video that it is “your No. 1 responsibility” to convince employees to vote “No.”

“Do your role as a store manager [and] make sure your partners get balanced information about what’s going on — especially in this role of us union-busting all over the country,” Williams said.

Schultz encouraged managers to communicate the company’s position to employees so that they “understand what it would really mean to vote for a union.”

The interim CEO said it was “critically important” that all employees vote. He then accused Starbucks Workers United of bullying other workers not to vote.

“Now, there are stories — I wasn’t there — but there are stories that people potentially had been bullied not to vote,” according to Schultz. He did not provide specifics or details to bolster the claim.

Schultz, the man credited with building the chain into a global empire and who recently took over the helm again on an interim basis, has embarked on a tour of Starbuck stores nationwide to dissuade employees against unionization.

Earlier this week, workers at five Starbucks restaurants in Richmond, Virginia, voted to join a union — bringing the total number of unionizing locations to 26. Thus far, 15 of those stores have been certified by the National Labor Relations Board.

Workers at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle — the city where the company is headquartered — also voted to unionize, according to The Seattle Times.

Employees at 218 other Starbucks locations have petitioned the NLRB to join a union.

According to More Perfect Union, Starbucks Workers United has filed more than 80 unfair labor practice complaints against the company.

Starbucks, which owns and operates some 9,000 locations across the United States, has been accused of firing pro-union baristas and reprimanding other workers who have also been active in the organized labor drive.