Starbucks is once again in the middle of another maelstrom, that could affect the Seattle-based coffee chain company. The unionised workers have spread their protest and strikes to major American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis and the company’s home, Seattle.
Starbucks Strikes In US Cities
These strikes are happening at a crucial juncture for the company, which has been going through a transition crisis after its previous CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, was fired and replaced with Chipotle’s Brian Niccol.
Niccol has tried to change the ways of the company and has tried to resurrect the brand’s growth potential.
This recent protests emerged from worker demands over salient issues concerning wages, staffing and scheduling of shifts.
10,000 Workers In The Protest
As many as 10,000 workers, many of them baristas associated with the union, have participated in this 5-day strike to make their demands clear.
Starbucks is no stranger to union strikes, in fact, in the past, Starbucks has also been accused of ‘Union-Busting’, i.e trying to dismantle unions in workspaces. Union busting is illegal in the United States.
These strikes are happening at a crucial juncture for the company, which has been going through a transition crisis after its previous CEO, Laxman Narasimhan, was fired and replaced with Chipotle’s Brian Niccol.
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Starbucks’ India Business
In the Indian context, this development comes at a time, when murmurs of the company relinquishing its business in India have often appeared. Most recently, last week, there were rumours that were propagated that the company may exit the price-sensitive Indian market.
Starbucks in India is run in partnership with India’s Tata Group. Pricing of the products in India has been a stickler for the company.
While debunking these rumours, Tata Group’s Mumbai-based Tata Consumer Products issued a statement to CNBC-TV18.
The company said “Reports of Starbucks looking to exit India (are) completely false and baseless. Tata’s relationship with Starbucks stands strong with shared values and commitment to India.”
| Mint
The company said “Reports of Starbucks looking to exit India (are) completely false and baseless. Tata’s relationship with Starbucks stands strong with shared values and commitment to India.”
Starbucks Shares
Another intriguing fact comes from the corners of Google. As per a Hindustan Times report, some of the keywords that have been trending on its search engine in the recent past include ‘Starbucks To exit India.’
When we look at the equity markets, Starbucks closed with a decline of 0.89 per cent or USD 0.79, taking its overall value to USD 87.97 on Friday, December 20.
