Starbucks to be led by Howard Schultz again as US workers push to unionize
Starbucks’ former leader Howard Schultz will replace chief executive Kevin Johnson as the coffee chain deals with a wave of unionization drives among its baristas.
The shake-up in leadership, announced Wednesday, comes as Starbucks’ workers across the country are pushing to form unions. Since a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York became the first store to vote to unionize in December, workers at six other locations have unionized and workers at 130 other stores across 27 states have petitioned to hold votes.
Johnson will leave his post on 4 April and will serve on the company’s board and in an advisory role through September. The company said that he had signaled to the board of directors around a year ago that he was thinking of retiring.
“It’s been deliberate,” said Mellody Hobson, chair of Starbucks’ board, to the Wall Street Journal. “This is not hasty in any way.”
In a separate statement, Hobson said that “as the company navigates the aftermath of the pandemic and socio-economic forces impacting the lives of all our stakeholders, [Schultz] will reinforce the company’s culture”.
Schultz, who served as CEO of the company from 1987 to 2000, and then a second time from 2008 to 2017, has been running his family foundation and working on various philanthropic efforts since he last stepped down. In 2019, Schultz briefly teased a presidential run for the 2020 election.
Schultz will take the job on an interim basis while the company seeks a permanent replacement. Though Schultz had formally stepped away from the company, he was still involved in company matters around unionization.
Last fall, Schultz paid a visit to employees in Buffalo as they were undergoing unionization efforts. In a letter to employees, who the company refers
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