NEW YORK — Starbucks is known as a company that cares about its employees. Yet in a recent effort to convey that message, Howard Schultz may have gotten carried away.
At a meeting this past weekend with employees in Buffalo, Mr. Schultz, founder and former CEO, drew a parallel between Starbucks’ “commitment to morality, honor and humanity”, and an act of superhuman selflessness during the Holocaust.
Schultz, a Jew, related a heart-wrenching story about Jewish prisoners in concentration camps in Poland who were only given a few blankets, yet shared with fellow prisoners. (Astonishingly, he was told the story by Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l, the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva).
“Not everyone, but most people shared their blanket with five other people,” said Schultz. “So much of that story is threaded into what we’ve tried to do at Starbucks — is share our blanket.”
Essentially, Schultz compared an immeasurable sacrifice by prisoners staring death in the face, to his coffee company. In response, some people are outraged, and feel the comparison is a stretch.
One employee said, “Felt like it wasn’t a very appropriate analogy.” A Jewish news outlet called the comments “mystifying.”
The gathering’s purpose was to address complaints by local Baristas who are attempting to unionize because their voices are not being heard. As part of his effort to mollify them, Schultz highlighted the company’s unique employee benefits, including health care for part-time workers and college tuition. In addition, employees have gotten two raises in a year and a half, and more than 50% of its US employees earn above $15 an hour.
While those benefits are commendable, they arguably do not compare to the level of unthinkable selflessness described in Schultz’s emotional story.
According to CNN, Starbucks did not reply to a request for comment.
As reported by Vos Iz Neias