Unionization efforts are taking hold in Starbucks units within every nook and cranny of the country, but Boston has a legitimate claim to being the new epicenter of the drive, with more than a dozen stores there in play right now. On this week’s edition of Working Lunch, hosts and Align Public Strategies partners Joe Kefauver and Franklin Coley speak with reporter Tori Bedford from GBH Boston, the local NPR affiliate, to get a sense of what’s happening on the ground there.
The conversation underscores how important the next few weeks are likely to be for Starbucks now that longtime guiding force Howard Schultz has stepped back into the CEO’s role. Expectations are keen that he’s going to shift the company’s strategy for dealing with the unionization push. Boston will likely be a true test of that new approach
This week’s edition also looks at how Consumer Reports rocked the industry last week by releasing documentation of PSAs’ presence in restaurant packaging. The report grades 24 companies on the potential toxicity of their to-go packaging. Kefauver and Coley discuss how the research could change the industry’s attitude toward packaging as the off-premise boom continues.
And once again, tipping has been linked to racism—this time by the author of The New York Times’ 1619 Project, a detailed look at how slavery and inequality took root in the United States. Kefauver and Coley discuss the impact this growing narrative could have on a compensation model that’s already under fire from labor and politicians.
As always, Working Lunch wraps up with Align’s exclusive Legislative Scorecard, a look at what's happening in legislatures across the country.
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