Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan declared in a written statement to the staff of the worldwide coffee chain that he will spend half a day each month working in one of the company’s stores.
Monday, March 20, marked the official beginning of Narasimhan’s tenure at Starbucks, and Thursday, March 23, he presided over the annual shareholder meeting for the company. He started working for the company in October of the year before and then spent many months learning about its business model. It also comprised 40 hours of training as a barista, an expert in producing and presenting coffee drinks. During this portion of the training, Narasimhan donned the renowned green apron worn by some Starbucks coffee shop staff.
In the interim, workers from the chain and representatives from other labour unions organised a demonstration in front of the corporate headquarters in Seattle, which is located in the United States. The workers staged the demonstration opposing the company’s leadership’s efforts to “smash” their trade unions.
The protest organisers stated that workers from over one hundred chain retail outlets in forty different American cities participated in the labour demonstrations; however, the firm contested their claimed extent of participation. Starbucks reported that “almost all of its locations stayed open”; however, the company did not disclose the number of stores that were closed due to the strike.
Starbucks announced that it would be closing a store in Seattle, the chain’s hometown and the location where its employees organised their first union, at the end of November of the previous year.
