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On August 6, "when opening statements are set to begin in the trial over Starbucks [8]' anti-union operation, in some ways corporate social responsibility [9] itself will be on trial," writes Daniel Gross. The case, before the National Labor Relations Board [10] in New York, deals with a number of union busting activities by Starbucks [8], such as the firing of three baristas who were organizing a union, including Gross himself. "Why are workers organizing at this darling of the corporate media?" he asks. "Starbucks workers struggle to make ends meet with a poverty wage of around $7 or $8 per hour. ... The total number of full-time hourly café employees at Starbucks is zero. ... The company boasts about its health care plan but its own data reveal that it insures a lower percentage of employees than Wal-Mart [11]." Gross concludes, "Activists can and do make use of CSR [corporate social responsibility] by pointing out the hypocrisy behind the big brands. But that's about all CSR is good for."
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/6/diane-farsetta
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/corporate-campaigns
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/marketing/cause-related-marketing
[4] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations/corporate-social-responsibility
[5] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/human-rights
[6] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/labor
[7] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2007%2F08%2F6322%2Fstarbucks-csr-not-worth-hill-beans&linkname=Starbucks%27%20CSR%20Not%20Worth%20a%20Hill%20of%20Beans
[8] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Starbucks
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/corporate_social_responsibility
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/National_Labor_Relations_Board
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Wal-Mart
[12] http://www.counterpunch.org/gross08042007.html