The Working Lunch

The Starbucks union battle rolls on with Boston becoming the new battleground as two locations in the city filed with the NLRB to conduct an organizing election. We are joined by journalist Tori Bedford with WGBH in Boston to give us the latest and greatest on what’s happening on the ground with particular insight into the organizing community itself.

And for additional perspective, we are joined by Phil Wilson, President & General Counsel of the Labor Relations Institute for his insights on Buffalo, Boston and how employers should be preparing for 2022.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Well, the votes are in and we now have the first union organized Starbucks in the United States. We also have a unit that rejected the union and the decision on the third unit is still up in the air. We will do a deep dive into what happened this week, what’s next for Starbucks, and more importantly, what’s next for the industry.

And McDonald’s made news this week announcing a quarter billion dollar investment over the next five years as part of a global effort to increase the diversity of the company’s base of owner-operators. We’ll discuss the whys and the wherefores of that move and McDonald’s record in that space.

And Amazon is getting a lot of press the last few weeks as folks are finally realizing that one company - yes Amazon - is literally setting the wage and benefit marketplace in the entry-level employment space. We’ll discuss the ramifications for all employers in the restaurant and retail space.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

As predicted, the Starbucks unionization effort has started to grow and is now getting rooted in other jurisdictions, namely Mesa, Arizona this week. If that’s not enough, another effort is underway at an iconic family-owned restaurant chain in small town West Virginia. We’ll update you on the latest and greatest as unions continue setting their sights on the restaurant industry.

And a key legislative threat to the industry this year, the FAST Act in California has been exported to the local level - the city of Detroit believe it or not. Justin Winslow, the President & CEO of the Michigan Restaurant Association joins us to discuss the efforts by industry opponents to take their issue agendas to the local level and why everybody - no matter where they are - should be paying attention to what’s happening in Detroit.

We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The vote is on. Starbucks workers in three Buffalo locations have started to vote on whether or not to affiliate with a local SEIU chapter. The company tried to delay the process but the NLRB proceeded as scheduled. And if that’s not enough, this week three additional stores filed a new petition with the NLRB. We’ll discuss the Starbucks grande - or should we say venti - problem in which the company finds itself. And inflation is having both economic and political ramifications as Americans are losing buying power and the President is bleeding political capital. We’ll discuss the whys and wherefores of inflation and what that means for the business and political environments. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

It was an election night that Democrats will want to forget as Republicans swept Virginia and very nearly toppled the governor of New Jersey. We’ll discuss the electoral ramifications, the political environment and what operators should expect going forward. And the long-awaited final vaccine mandate rule - the Emergency Temporary Standard to be precise - was released by OSHA and it’s even more stringent than had been anticipated. We are joined by Ed Egee, Vice President of Government Relations and Workforce Development at the National Retail Federation who will take us on a deep dive into the new rules and what operators will be responsible for in the months ahead. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Virginia and New Jersey will hold gubernatorial and legislative elections this week that not only will be a good indicator of the national mood but will have major impacts on key industry issues in those states. We’ll discuss those dynamics and even make some predictions. And In-N-Out Burger has rolled right into the culture wars becoming a national poster child for employer pushback on vaccine mandates. We’ll discuss the operational challenges for operators and the calculations large brands make when deciding to enter the public fray. And McDonald’s announced the company has achieved gender pay equity and laid out a roadmap going forward. We’ll discuss how big of a deal this really is and what the ramifications might be down the road. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Restaurant Brands International took a huge industry-leading role in the sustainability space with their announcement that they have set substantial new climate-related targets on greenhouse gas emissions, pledging to cut their emissions in half by 2030 and be net-zero by 2050. We are visited by the team that led this effort - Becky Hall, Director of Global Sustainability & Natalie Pecile, Senior Manager of Sustainability to talk to us about the company’s journey down this road and, more importantly, how and why they got here. And the President’s controversial vaccine-mandate policy is still front of mind for employers but uncertainty surrounds what the final rules will look like. To help us sort it out, we are joined once again by Ed Egee, Vice President for Government Relations & Workforce Development at the National Retail Federation who is going to walk us through where we are in the final rule-making process and what operators can expect to see in the next few weeks. And a record 4.3 million workers quit - yes quit - their jobs in August with the highest percentage of those coming in the restaurant and retail sector. We’ll talk about the ramifications of that as well as the road ahead. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

The times they are a-changin’ in the restaurant world as changes in consumer preferences and advances in technology are drastically altering business models and restaurant operations. We sit down with one of the leading drivers of change in our industry, REEF Technology, and their head of communications Mason Harrison, to understand the changing environment and how REEF looks at their role in that process. And labor shortage?...what labor shortage? Last weekend, Amazon hosted a 24 hour virtual job fair and over a million potential applicants participated, over half of them in the United States. We’ll take a look at why some entry-level employers have all the help they need. And we’ll give an update on this week’s unionization campaigns with key developments in both the Starbucks campaign in Buffalo and the Darwin’s effort in Boston. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Another group of coffee shops - this time in Cambridge, Massachusetts - has filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board seeking union representation. This is the latest example of the uptick of grassroots-based union organizing campaigns currently underway in the industry. We'll discuss this effort, update you on the ongoing Starbucks effort, and what may be next for the industry. And there was extensive media coverage this week highlighting the steadily growing advantage that retailers have in the battle for employees. We’ll take a look at that and what policy ramifications may potentially arise that will impact the labor shortage. And Gavin Newsom not only survived his recall election, one could argue he came out of it stronger than ever. We’ll discuss the results and if the outcome in California has any national implications regarding next year’s election cycle. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

Starbucks is facing a significant union organizing effort in Buffalo, but unlike recent campaigns, this one is not run by a local independent union but by allies of the SEIU itself. Phil Wilson, President & General Counsel of the Labor Relations Institute, joins the pod once again to walk us through what is happening on the ground in Buffalo and why it matters to all employers in the market. And the wine and spirits industry is stepping up to the plate, taking concrete action to address and prevent sexual harassment not only in their industry but other sectors of the hospitality community as well. We are joined by the leaders of that effort, Deborah Brenner, Founder & CEO of Women of the Vine & Spirits and Chris Swonger, the CEO of DISCUS, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States stop by to discuss their program, how it came about, and more importantly, why it matters going forward. We’ll discuss those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

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How can listeners register for upcoming trainings and participate in this effort? REGISTER for upcoming Level 1 and 2 Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Trainings here: https://www.womenofthevine.com/cpages/rainn-trainings-1

If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, the National Sexual Assault Hotline provides free, anonymous 24/7 support via phone at 800.656.4673 or chat via the online hotline (https://hotline.rainn.org/online?_ga=2.224902682.1092492588.1611615003-2049378457.1554892940). RAINN’s website (www.rainn.org) also provides information on supporting loved ones who are survivors, helping yourself heal if you’ve been directly affected by sexual violence, and how to be part of creating safer communities.

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