Sir Bill Beaumont could reportedly fill the role on an interim basis

Founders now have a way to ensure that their investors haven’t taken money from countries like China, Russia, Iran, or Cuba.  Over 20 venture firms have signed the Clean Capital Certification, attesting that they have not and will not take money from foreign adversaries. Some of the firms that have signed include Marlinspike Partners, Humba […]

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• Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has talked about improving conditions for baristas.
• A potential strike at some Starbucks stores represents a test on that front for the new CEO.
• Niccol has made some operational changes, but Starbucks Workers United wants better pay.

Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol has talked about improving working conditions for the company's baristas.

Now, as thousands of them prepare for a potential strike, Niccol faces a test of that commitment.

Baristas who are part of Starbucks Workers United, which represents about 10,000 Starbucks workers in the US, voted to authorize a strike, the union said on Tuesday. About 98% of members voted in favor of action, though they haven't selected a walkout date, according to the union.

The union said Tuesday that it's focused on winning better raises for its members. It also wants to resolve hundreds of unfair labor practice charges, or ULPs, filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

The contract negotiations predate Niccol's arrival at Starbucks in September. Starbucks and the union have been at odds for three years. The first Starbucks store to unionize — a location in Buffalo, New York — was organized in 2021. The parties restarted talks in April after about a year of no meetings and have struck agreements on some provisions of the contract.

Starbucks and union representatives continued to bargain on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Starbucks Workers United told Business Insider.

"It is disappointing that the union is considering a strike rather than focusing on what have been extremely productive negotiations," Starbucks spokesperson Phil Gee said. "Since April, we've scheduled and attended more than eight multi-day bargaining sessions where we've reached thirty meaningful agreements on dozens of topics Workers United delegates told us were important to them, including many economic issues."

Since becoming Starbucks CEO, Niccol has said he sees opportunities to improve some operational aspects of baristas' working conditions as part of a broader push to revitalize sales. In an open letter in his first week as leader, he said the company would focus on "empowering our baristas to take care of our customers" and that he wanted to make it "the best place to work, with career opportunities and a clear path to growth."

Some Starbucks workers have told BI that their stores are understaffed, including during some of the busiest times of the day, such as the morning and after-school rushes. Other workers have said that Starbucks' frequent promotions for app users result in a crush of mobile orders that they struggle to prepare in just a few minutes.

Niccol's early actions at Starbucks have included fixes to some of those issues, such as rolling back the frequency of promotions and adjusting staffing, he said on an earnings call in October. Starbucks also plans to bring back self-service milk and other condiments at its stores in 2025 to lighten some of the barista load.

One sign of progress came on Monday, when Starbucks said it would offer employees up to 18 weeks of paid parental leave — triple its current benefit of six weeks. Employees represented by Starbucks Workers United had previously proposed doubling the paid time off for parents.

On Tuesday, Starbucks Workers United said that the company had yet to agree to make changes to other aspects of workers' jobs. The union represents baristas at about 500 Starbucks stores.

"It's time to finalize a foundational framework that includes meaningful investments in baristas and to resolve unfair labor practice charges," Silvia Baldwin, a Starbucks barista in Philadelphia barista and bargaining delegate, said on Tuesday.

Starbucks spokesperson Gee said: "We remain committed to working together and committed to reaching a final framework agreement. This is our goal."

Do you work at Starbucks and have a story idea to share? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• Two Russian vessels were damaged during a heavy storm on Sunday, causing a massive oil spill.
• The tankers, both over 50 years old, carried nearly 9,000 metric tons of oil products.
• On Monday, the EU sanctioned 52 dark fleet ships.

A massive oil spill involving two Russian tankers is underscoring the dangers of the dark fleet of ships that's been boosting President Vladimir Putin's war chest.

On Sunday, the Volgoneft 212 and Volgoneft 239 vessels were damaged during a heavy storm, discharging 3,700 tons of low-grade fuel oil into the Kerch Strait between the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and Russia.

Both ships are over 50 years old and were carrying nearly 9,000 metric tons of oil products in total, reported TASS state news agency.

One crewmember died, and 12 were rescued from the Volgoneft 212, which split in half. All 14 crew aboard the Volgoneft 239 were rescued.

Greenpeace Ukraine has warned of an "environmental catastrophe" in the Kerch Strait.

While the extent of damage depends on the product involved, the region already experienced "severe damage to the environment" in 2007 when 1,200 to 1,600 tons of oil was spilled," Greenpeace said.

Aging ships are transporting Russian energy

The problem is more than environmental.

The G7 imposed an oil price cap on Russian oil in December 2022, prompting Russia to grow its shadow network of mostly aging ships.

Using that shadow fleet of ships has helped Russia circumvent Western restrictions and allowed it to continue trading its oil at market prices, according to the European Union.

However, because many of those ships are old, they are also more prone to accidents. Should the ships not have adequate insurance, the burden of clean-up and salvage costs could fall on coastal countries.

Last month, 206 out of the 369 vessels that exported Russian crude oil and oil products were shadow tankers, according to the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a think-tank.

About 30% of the shadow tankers carrying Russian oil were at least 20 years old, according to CREA. Major Western oil companies generally do not use ships above 15 years old.

Europe to step up checks on tanker insurance

The European Union is already cracking down on Russia's dark fleet.

On Monday, the EU sanctioned 52 dark fleet ships. That's in addition to the 27 ships it had previously sanctioned. These vessels will not be able to access EU ports and services.

"These ships have been found to be engaged in high-risk shipping practices when transporting Russian oil or petroleum products, in arms deliveries, grain theft, or supporting the Russian energy sector," the European Commission said in its announcement.

A group of European countries — including Denmark, Estonia, Norway, and Sweden — is also planning to increase checks on the insurance coverage of tankers carrying Russian oil, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Bloomberg's sources said they expect no consequences for ships that are short on their coverage in the immediate term, although the information collected could help with the crafting of such measures in the future.

Just as Amazon warehouse workers are threatening to launch the "first large-scale" unfair labor practices strike at Amazon in US history, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a report accusing Amazon of operating "uniquely dangerous warehouses" that allegedly put profits over worker safety.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Sanders started investigating Amazon in June 2023. His goal was "to uncover why Amazon’s injury rates far exceed those of its competitors and to understand what happens to Amazon workers when they are injured on the job."

According to Sanders, Amazon "sometimes ignored" the committee's requests and ultimately only supplied 285 documents requested. The e-commerce giant was mostly only willing to hand over "training materials given to on-site first aid staff," Sanders noted, rather than "information on how it tracks workers, the quotas it imposes on workers, and the disciplinary actions it takes when workers cannot meet those quotas, internal studies on the connection between speed and injury rates, and the company’s treatment of injured workers."

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