Its manager said Thursday, Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund, one of the world’s largest investors, will support a shareholder proposal urging Starbucks (SBUX.O) to report on labor rights.
According to fund statistics, the Norwegian fund holds 1.05% of Starbucks, valued at $1.2 billion in 2022. Refinitiv Eikon lists it as the tenth-largest shareholder. Thursday is Starbucks’ annual meeting.
Schultz helped Starbucks become a progressive employer by giving higher compensation and greater perks, including company stock and health insurance, than other food companies.
Critics, including shareholders, have called the company’s response to a burgeoning union drive and Schultz’s public statements too confrontational.
The Norwegian wealth fund’s Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) stated it would support a third-party examination of Starbucks’ adherence to freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.
On Thursday, NBIM’s Chief Governance and Compliance Officer, Carine Smith Ihenacho, and senior fund executive Caroline Eriksen expressed worry over the matter in a separate opinion article.
“Freedom of association and collective pay bargaining are basic employee and human rights,” they stated.
Starbucks was unresponsive.
