The Labor Group nominates three candidates for Starbucks board seats. The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a confederation of labor unions in North America, announced on Tuesday that it had nominated three candidates for board seats at Starbucks Corp. (SBUX.O), using a strategy that activist shareholders frequently use.

The union released a statement announcing that Maria Echaveste, Joshua Gotbaum, and Wilma Liebman—all of whom served in former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations—had been nominated for election to the Starbucks board.

March 13, 2024, is the date of the annual meeting wherein Starbucks’ shareholders will cast their votes for the members of its eight-member board.

“The board’s nominating and corporate governance committee will review SOC Investment Group’s proposed director nominee(s) in accordance with its normal process,” Starbucks stated in a statement.

It further stated that it would continue to invest at this rate in 2024, having already spent more than $3 billion on pay hikes, training, new machinery, and technology during the previous three years. Additionally, it claimed to have reduced employee turnover, extended working hours and raised hourly pay by about 50% since 2020.

A walkout by employees at multiple Starbucks locations last week during a significant promotional event was orchestrated by the Workers United Union, which called for better schedules and staffing levels.

According to SOC, in the previous two years, Starbucks has been the target of more than 120 complaints from the National Labor Relations Board, a federal organization that protects employees’ rights. These include claims of improperly disciplining and terminating employees, closing stores to stop union activities, monitoring employees, and not engaging in sincere negotiations with employees.

“At a time when Starbucks has set an ambitious goal of opening more than 17,000 new stores by 2030, it cannot waste any more resources fighting its workers,” the SOC stated. A spokeswoman from the National Labor Relations Board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At over 360 Starbucks locations across the United States, the union represents over 9,000 workers. It has ties to SOC, a shareholder in Starbucks, and the Service Employees International Union. As of October 1, around 228,000 workers were employed by Starbucks in the United States, and 3.6% of its partners at company-operated stores were unionized, per a regulatory filing.

Strikes have occurred in various industries due to complex negotiations for wage increases and benefits due to the tight labor market in the United States, the expiration of union contracts, and the continued high cost of living.

As of October of this year, approximately 444,900 workers had participated in work stoppages and strikes, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On Monday, Starbucks announced the formation of a new board committee tasked with assisting the firm in improving its interactions with all relevant parties, including its workforce.