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Arizona State University

Melissa Addiego

OGL 345: Organizational Ethics

Doctor Carla Mahnke

Ethics Article Review Paper

February 26, 2022

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Prompt 1: What is ethics? Find a definition and properly cite it. Why do you like this
particular
definition?
Ethics is a concept that indulges in the moral principles that guide our actions. “Ethics is

based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do,

usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. […] Ethics

also means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our moral conduct,

and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to shape, live up to standards that are

reasonable and solidly-based” (Andre et. al., 2021). I really enjoy how the authors imply that in

order to practice sound ethics people need to be able to reflect on their own views, beliefs, and

guiding principles. As a society, we have a very diverse understanding of ethics because of how

diverse of a people we are. From our backgrounds, to our experiences, to our conditioned

understandings of right and wrong- we each have very different perceptions of what makes our

actions acceptable or not. The definition mentioned above asks that we confront our assumptions

and biases by reflecting on our decisions to ensure that our actions are truly in line with

standards that are “reasonable.”

Prompt 2: Think about the dilemma as it relates to your current professional industry, or a
professional industry in which you want to be employed.
For the purposes of this assignment, what is that professional industry? Why have you chosen
this profession for this assignment?
I started with Starbucks when I was a senior in high school. Since starting in 2014, I have

promoted to supervisor and am passionate about being in such a position of leadership. I have

chosen the food industry for this assignment because of my eight years of experience in the field.

I’ve also chosen this genre because of how committed I am to giving a voice to young people as

they seem to dominate the restaurant industry. I did not have the best experience my first six
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months with the company because I didn’t have the best leaders; however, I persevered and

developed the skills and competencies necessary to excel.

Flash forward eight years, and I am convinced that the deeply ingrained norms I have

regarding customer service have actually warped my mindset, impacting both my mental and

physical well-being. I have been trained to work as hard and efficient as possible in order

provide speedy service, working as a kind of machine on days where an average 3o minute

period entails 100+ drinks/food items. I’ve been conditioned to never question the consistency of

call-outs nor the lack of support that comes with them. I want to stand up for the new generation

of Starbucks baristas because I believe that they should be entitled to better working conditions

than those I’d been too brainwashed to question.

Prompt 3: Include a link to the article(s) you read for this assignment. Summarize your
article(s)
and cite it per APA Standards as necessary.
A Starbucks store located in Buffalo, New York successfully unionized despite the

company’s meddling to stall the campaign. They gathered in December of 2021 to strike outside

of their store in an effort to express their discomfort and quarrels with the rise of covid-19 cases

at their store and the poor system in place to mitigate the spread (Scheiber, 2022a). These

partners chose to pursue unionizing in order to have their voices be heard and their ideas be

integrated into corporate discussions. “In a matter of months, Starbucks workers have filed

petitions for union elections at more than 50 stores in at least 19 states. Starbucks has been using

the same legal argument to stop these elections from moving forward at the NLRB, even though

the board rejected it the first time Starbucks tried it” (Jamieson, 2022). Starbucks Workers

United (SWU) is gaining traction from coast to coast as baristas are starting to jump on the

union-wagon.
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Starbucks employees are ready to unionize because they feel the company has failed to

live up to the values they preach. Journalists with Forbes interviewed two members of Starbucks

Workers United, Michael Sanabria and Casey Moore, to extract details regarding the push for

unionizing. When asked about the general vision behind organizing, Sanabria states that it’s

essentially about seeking “a better quality of life at work. I have seen my coworkers have

breakdowns over things like being behind on bills or even things like being understaffed on the

floor. Like really, really poorly understaffed” (Schweizer, 2021). Moore adds to this, saying “that

is ultimately why we want a seat at the table, to decide democratically what we want those

changes to be. There are things like seniority pay, for example, adequate staffing, credit card tips,

like all of these things” (Schweizer, 2021). It’s clear the intentions behind forming a union go

beyond the realm of benefits that are already provided to us and more about creating a contract

that will allow corporate to be more in touch with partner experiences than they claim to be.

Moore is motivated by the hopes that Starbucks will eventually work with SWU to create

an honorable contract that’ll improve the lives of not only herself but her coworkers- “and I think

it’ll make Starbucks a better company at the end of the day” (Schweizer, 2021). So why is the

company upset about partners wanting to be involved in making the decisions that affect their

quality of life? Below is a very telling excerpt from “one.Starbucks.com,” a website established

by Starbucks Company to address the FAQs behind unionizing: “We don’t believe having a

union will meaningfully change or solve the problems you’ve identified in your store. […]

Providing leading benefits. Meeting and exceeding all COVID safety measures while innovating

with isolation and vaccine pay and more. And creating a work experience rooted in connection

and purpose. We do it together. We have been very open and honest with partners that if they

don’t want the union—or are not sure—they should vote ‘no.’” (Starbucks Corporation, 2022). It
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seems the company is convinced that the data and surveys they’ve collected and analyzed is fair

representation of their employee base; that these tactics are sufficient enough channels of

communication for “direct partnership” and problem solving. While they’ve expressed their

unfavorable views regarding unionization, they’ve also made an array of decisions that are cause

for an ethical dilemma.

Starbucks is apparently working up quite the tab hiring lawyers to stall the unionizing

efforts that have been popping up in response to the Buffalo success story. Moreover, as

mentioned earlier, they are even using the same arguments every time in their legal affairs even

though they’re fully aware of the board’s prior rejection status. “To many of us it looks

pointless… but it is fully legal. For any employer with the kind of resources that Starbucks has

available, time is their favorite weapon” (Jamieson, 2022). The legality of the stalling tactics is in

the clear, but does that make it ethical? “Being ethical is also not the same as following the law.

The law often incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. But laws, like

feelings, can deviate from what is ethical” (Andre et. al., 2021). One might argue that Starbucks

is actually hindering the relationship they have with their most influential stakeholders- those on

the frontlines, the baristas themselves- by meddling in the unionization efforts. This is because

their tactics are based on patronization and intimidation. It’s clear that the company is desperate

to buy time, but why? Are these reasons ethical?

Hiring lawyers and prolonging the review process gifts the company with time to

interfere in the activities of the specific store(s) trying to unionize before votes are finalized.

“Starbucks may also conclude that what it spends opposing unions is not money well spent.

‘When you’re making a resource commitment at some point you have to realize there is a reason

this is happening, and it may not be a reason you’re going to be able to fix soon enough to make
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a difference,’ said Brian West Easley, a management-side lawyer at Jones Day” (Scheiber,

2022b). Starbucks has not only sent in senior managers to stores that are actively seeking to

unionize to use their presence alone to mediate unionization efforts, stalling is a direct effort to

interfere with the “composition of the [store’s] voter pool. […] ‘They will use their control of the

hiring process to try to change the outcome. You get a bunch of people in a store that were hired

basically to be pro-management, if not explicitly anti-union’” (Jamieson, 2022). Such efforts to

deter partners from seeking third-party representation seems a bit extreme.

Ethically speaking, the principles guiding such activity is not very in line with “fairness”

or “virtues” as discussed in prompt one. SWU formally addressed Kevin Johnson, stating “we

have specific grievances: the speech Howard Schultz gave in which he exhorted us to feel

grateful for what Starbucks has already provided us, and most notably, our store being

overstaffed once the union effort was announced and our hours being cut across the board”

(SBWorkersUnited, 2022). It seems that Starbucks’ intentions are not genuine behind these last-

minute tactics and seem to be taking advantage of their resources in order to stall and sway

partner perspectives. This is an ethical dilemma as it’s practically union-busting, they just have

the money necessary to be subtle about it.

Prompt 4: Why do you feel understanding this ethical dilemma in your industry/profession is
helpful to your leadership development?
I feel that understanding this ethical dilemma is absolutely crucial in my role as a

Starbucks supervisor. This is because if my team were to inquire about unionizing, I am now

confident and well-versed on the subject in order to equip them with the knowledge they’ll need

to move forward. I think that this ethical dilemma is one that’s long overdue, not just for baristas

but for the restaurant industry in general. The anxiety from being severely understaffed to just

downright not earning a livable wage is a feeling many of us have suffered through and it’s such
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a relief that this topic if finally gaining some traction. It’s so empowering to know that Starbucks

baristas all over the U.S. are teaming up to put this multi-billion-dollar corporation in the hot

seat. It’s time they own up to their display of ignorance as it relates to the unethical norms being

developed in their stores. As a leader, I am looking froward to shifting my mindset from “this is

how it has to be” or “we signed up for this when we applied for Starbucks” or “you knew what

you were getting into” to a mindset that actually seeks to NURTURE THE HUMAN SPIRIT.

Moving forward, I would like to challenge the conditions in my store that chip away at my

quality of life by advocating the partners do the same. If this leads to union-talk, then I am all for

it!

Prompt 5: What could someone in another profession learn from this ethical dilemma?
From the outside looking in, I would say that the most pertinent message to take away

from all of this is to listen to your employees. Any profession can see from this ethical dilemma

that treating your employees as a means to an end will not bode well in terms of longevity;

Starbucks has really high turn over because it’s not a sustainable career. Sure, the benefits are

great but this will only act as a band aid if serious moral and systemic issues are not being

corrected. Outside professions can also see that choosing to fight off unionization efforts can be

extremely costly and may actually upset the workforce, the people who are literally the backbone

of the whole operation. I would also argue that other professions can see from this dilemma that

they should compensate their senior members fairly, especially if they’re picking up the slack of

newer workers. Not compensating them for the imbalance of skill and potential burnout seems

unethical and self-defeating as these employees are bound to leave to find better. Businesses

need to ensure their values align with the realities of what’s going on in their stores- mission

statements can’t just instill false hope.

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RESOURCES
Andre, Shanks, S.J., Meyer, Velasquez. (2021). What is Ethics? Markkula Center for Applied

Ethics. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/what-is-

ethics/

Jamieson, D. (2022, February 4). Starbucks Is Desperately Trying To Slow A Union Campaign

That’s Caught Fire. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/starbucks-union-

campaign-legal-strategy_n_61fc4a2ce4b06abdc42d615b

SBWorkersUnited. (2022, January 31). [Tweet]. Twitter.

https://twitter.com/SBWorkersUnited/status/1488179908484415496/photo/1

Scheiber, N. (2022a, January 11). Union Wins Vote at Second Buffalo-Area Starbucks. The New

York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/business/starbucks-union-election-

buffalo.html

Scheiber, N. (2022b, January 17). Taking On Starbucks, Inspired by Bernie Sanders. The New

York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/business/economy/starbucks-

union.html

Schweizer, E. (2021, December 10). Why Are Starbucks Workers Unionizing? Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/errolschweizer/2021/10/26/why-are-starbucks-workers-

unionizing/?sh=426b70136151

Starbucks Corporation. (2022). We are One Starbucks – Facts and Answers for Partners. We

Are One Starbucks. https://one.starbucks.com/

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