• We call our employees partners for a reason. We’ve built a solid foundation on the direct and open relationship we share with them and our legacy of providing them with a positive workplace.
  
  
• We are proud to be one of the most progressive employers in the U.S. We believe we’ve earned this designation because we openly value and respect each partner and acknowledge that our success would not be possible without the contributions they make on a daily basis.
   
• In 2009, for the 11th time, Starbucks was named to FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Starbucks is recognized as a great place to work for good reason: we have made treating our partners with respect and dignity one of our guiding principles.
   
• Because health care is important to our partners, Starbucks offers comprehensive benefits packages to eligible partners working at least 20 hours per week, with 64% of eligible partners currently enrolled. While there are many reasons why partners choose not to take advantage of our coverage plan – for example, many are students covered under their parents’ or a school plan – we do our best to make sure cost is not a barrier to coverage. The cost to participate in our most economical plan (routine care) is just $6.25 a week.
   
• We pride ourselves in offering partners flexible work hours. When our partners told us they wanted more work hours and more regular work schedules, we implemented “Optimal Scheduling” during the fall of 2008. The goal was to provide the most working hours to those partners who were available to do so – providing them with the opportunity for more consistent and predictable weekly schedules. It even gives our partners the chance to form relationships with our customers who tell us they enjoy the chance to see their favorite barista regularly. The feedback we’ve received on this new program has been exceptionally positive.
   
• We offer our partners a fair and competitive wage. The vast majority of our U.S. baristas earn from $7.50 to $10.00 per hour. Partners are also offered a Total Pay package including benefits, a 401(k) savings plan, stock options, an employee stock purchase plan and partner “perks” designed exclusively for our partners.

• We believe that the Employee Free Choice Act, in its current form, would have a detrimental impact on the strong relationship we share with our partners. That is why Starbucks has joined Costco and Whole Foods to develop an alternative solution to EFCA.
   
• EFCA, as it is currently written, could compromise the ability for our partners to openly communicate and be comfortably involved with what's happening at their workplace. For example, we want to ensure that our partners are guaranteed the right to a secret ballot (a fundamental cornerstone of democracy as we know it) and that workplace rules and the terms and conditions of employment are not placed in the hands of a government arbitrator. We are striving for a new way forward that we believe is an acceptable level of involvement that our partners deserve and desire.
   
• Given the severe economic crisis facing America, we sought to find an alternative solution to avoid the polarization that has occurred on both sides of this issue and come together to find a productive approach. This is not an anti-union effort, but rather about preserving the right for our partners to vote. We are proposing alternatives to workplace rules that would more properly balance rights and responsibilities equally between labor and management.

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