Strategic Organizing Center Nominates Three Candidates to Starbucks Board of Directors
21 Novembro 2023 - 9:00PM
Business Wire
Believes Starbucks’ severe human capital
mismanagement has materially damaged the Company’s reputation and
exposed it to significant financial, legal and regulatory risk
SOC’s nominees would bring independent
perspectives and relevant experience enhancing human capital
management practices, facilitating constructive outcomes for labor
issues and overseeing engagement with policymakers and
regulators
The Strategic Organizing Center (the “SOC”), a shareholder of
Starbucks Corporation (Nasdaq: SBUX) (“Starbucks” or the
“Company”), today announced it has nominated three director
candidates – Maria Echaveste, Hon. Joshua Gotbaum and Wilma Liebman
– for election to the Starbucks Board of Directors (the “Board”) at
the upcoming 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the “Annual
Meeting”).
The SOC is a coalition of labor unions, including the Service
Employees International Union (“SEIU”). The SOC-affiliated unions
represent more than 2.3 million union members. Regarding the
nominations, the SOC stated:
“For more than two years, Starbucks has gone
to historic lengths to counter its employees’ campaign to have
their voices heard. This has not only cost untold millions in legal
fees and other expenditures, but the constant media, policymaker
and regulatory scrutiny have caused potentially irreversible damage
to the value of the Company’s previously enviable brand. Regardless
of one’s personal views on whether Starbucks should support or
continue to resist the unionization of its store employees, the
Board’s current approach likely jeopardizes its ability to fulfill
its fiduciary duties to investors and has resulted in arguably one
of the most glaring and destructive examples of human capital
mismanagement corporate America has seen. This is why we believe
change is needed at the Board level. Our nominees can bring fresh
perspectives and the right expertise to help improve oversight and
safeguard the best interests of Starbucks’ shareholders, customers
and employees.
Since November 2021, the National Labor
Relations Board (“NLRB”) – the federal agency responsible for
protecting workers’ rights – has issued over 120 complaints against
Starbucks, covering some 420 charges of violating federal labor
law. These complaints cover a wide range of allegations of
wrongdoing, including illegal discipline and firings, store
closures to halt union activity, worker surveillance and the
Company’s failure to bargain in good faith. In some of the most
egregious cases since 2022, the NLRB has sought injunctions from
federal courts. These cases involving Starbucks represent a full
third of all injunctions sought by the NLRB against any employer
during this time period.
At a time when Starbucks has set an ambitious
goal of opening more than 17,000 new stores by 2030, it cannot
waste any more resources fighting its own workers. While these
missteps have not yet led to a visible strain on the Company’s
financial performance, given the reputational damage and potential
impact on Starbucks’ ability to execute its growth strategy, we
believe it is only a matter of time until the share price reflects
the cost of this failed oversight. This threat to shareholder value
is why action must be taken now.
Our nominees are:
- Maria Echaveste, a former senior White House official
and corporate attorney with significant international relations and
public company board experience.
- Hon. Joshua Gotbaum, who has been a director of both
public and private companies with decades of experience in
corporate governance and change, as well as significant public
policy and government experience.
- Wilma Liebman, who possesses over 40 years of experience
in labor management, employee relations, wage negotiations, public
policy and law – including having served as the Chair of the NLRB
under President Barack Obama.
By electing these nominees, shareholders will
be adding to the Board independent, objective directors with the
right skills and experience to help the Company address its
significant human capital issues and chart a sustainable path
forward.
We look forward to engaging with our fellow
shareholders in the near-term.”
Full Biographies of SOC’s
Nominees
Maria Echaveste
Ms. Echaveste is a former senior White House official and
corporate attorney with significant international relations and
public company board experience that we believe would be extremely
additive to Starbucks’ Board.
- President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute, a non-profit
working to increase economic and social mobility.
- Member of the board of directors of Cadiz, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDZI),
where she also serves as Chair of the Corporate Governance and
Nominating Committee and as a member of the Equity, Sustainability
& Environmental Justice Committee.
- Previously served as Assistant to the President and Deputy
White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton from 1998 to 2001,
where she focused on policy and political issues, including
immigration, civil rights, education and finance, among others,
making her one of the highest-ranking Latinas to have served in a
presidential administration.
- Previously served as Administrator of the Wage and Hour
Division at the U.S. Department of Labor from 1993 to 1997.
- Previously served on the board of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation,
where she focused on the foundation’s Mexican-American Leadership
Initiative launched in 2010, and as a former special representative
to Bolivia, a position she was designated by Hillary Clinton in
2009.
- Previously served as vice chair of the California International
Trade and Investment Advisory Committee, an appointment made by
Governor Jerry Brown.
- Held various roles at the University of California at Berkeley,
including as a lecturer and policy director of the Law School’s
Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, and
serves on the board of directors of multiple non-profit
organizations.
- B.A. from Stanford University and J.D. from U.C. Berkeley.
Hon. Joshua Gotbaum
Mr. Gotbaum has broad experience in business and government –
both as senior management and as a director of public and private
companies and nonprofits – that we believe would be extremely
additive to Starbucks’ Board.
- Currently a Trustee of the Pension Reserve Trust of the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and Chair of the Maryland Small
Business Retirement Savings Board.
- Significant experience serving as an independent director of
PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM), TD Bank, Safety-Kleen Systems and
Thornburg Investment Management.
- Previously served as CEO of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corp.
- Led the successful Chapter 11 reorganization of Hawaiian
Airlines (Nasdaq: HA).
- Previously served as Managing Director of Lazard, where he
advised on finance, acquisitions and restructuring for businesses,
governments and unions.
- Previously served in influential White House roles, including
the President’s Office of Management & Budget, the White House
Domestic Policy Staff and other White House offices. Also served as
Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Economic Policy and Assistant
Secretary of Defense.
- Guest scholar in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution
and an authority on economic policy, federal budget policy and
process, public finance, and retirement and aging policies and
programs.
- J.D. from Harvard Law School, Masters in Public Policy from
Harvard Kennedy School and A.B. from Stanford.
Wilma Liebman
Ms. Liebman has over 40 years of experience in labor management,
employee relations, wage negotiations, public policy and law that
we believe would bring extremely additive to Starbucks’ Board.
- Former Chair of the NLRB, a position she was designated by
President Barack Obama from January 2009 until August 2011, making
her the second woman to ever lead the organization in its nearly
90-year history.
- Former member of the NLRB from 1997 to 2011, where presidents
including George W. Bush and William J. Clinton appointed her for
multiple terms.
- Previously served as Chief Operations Officer and Deputy
Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, where
she oversaw arbitration, international affairs and advised on major
labor disputes to support negotiations.
- Previously served as Legal Counsel to the International
Brotherhood of Teamsters.
- Previously served as Labor Counsel for the International Union
of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen.
- Member of the Board of Directors of Ownership Works, the
Economic Policy Institute, and Co-Chair of the Council of Advisors
at the Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy at the New
School.
- B.A. from Barnard College and J.D. from the George Washington
University Law Center.
DISCLAIMER
This material does not constitute an offer to sell or a
solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities described
herein in any state to any person. In addition, the discussions and
opinions in this press release and the material contained herein
are for general information only, and are not intended to provide
investment advice. All statements contained in this press release
that are not clearly historical in nature or that necessarily
depend on future events are “forward-looking statements,” which are
not guarantees of future performance or results, and the words
“will,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “potential,” “could,”
“opportunity,” “estimate,” and similar expressions are generally
intended to identify forward-looking statements. Any projected
results and/or statements contained in this press release that are
not historical facts are based on current expectations, speak only
as of the date of this press release and involve risks that may
cause the actual results to be materially different. Certain
information included in this press release is based on data
obtained from sources considered to be reliable. No representation
is made with respect to the accuracy or completeness of such data,
and any analyses provided to assist the recipient of this press
release in evaluating the matters described herein may be based on
subjective assessments and assumptions and may use one among
alternative methodologies that produce different results.
Accordingly, any analyses should also not be viewed as factual and
also should not be relied upon as an accurate prediction of future
results. Any figures are unaudited estimates and subject to
revision without notice. The SOC disclaims any obligation to update
the information herein and reserve the right to change any of their
opinions expressed herein at any time as they deem appropriate.
Past performance is not indicative of future results.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
The SOC, the SEIU, Mary Kay Henry, Ahmer Qadeer, Michael Zucker,
Maria Echaveste, Joshua Gotbaum, and Wilma B. Liebman
(collectively, the “Participants”) intend to file a definitive
proxy statement and accompanying proxy card (the “Proxy Statement”)
with the SEC to be used to solicit proxies in connection with the
2024 annual meeting of shareholders (the “Annual Meeting”) of
Starbucks Corporation (the “Company”). All shareholders of the
Company are advised to read the Proxy Statement and other documents
related to the solicitation of proxies, each in connection with the
Annual Meeting, by the Participants when they become available, as
they will contain important information, including additional
information related to the Participants. The Proxy Statement and an
accompanying BLUE proxy card will be furnished to some or all of
the Company’s stockholders and will be, along with other relevant
documents, available at no charge on the SEC website at
http://www.sec.gov.
Information about the Participants and a description of their
direct or indirect interests by security holdings or otherwise is
contained in Exhibit 2 to the Schedule 14A to be filed by the
Participants with the SEC on November 22, 2023. This document is
available free of charge from the sources described above.
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Investor Contact Okapi Partners Bruce Goldfarb / Pat
McHugh, (212) 297-0720 info@okapipartners.com
Media Contacts Longacre Square Partners
soc-sbux@longacresquare.com
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