SHARE and other investors express concern over Starbucks Board oversight of labour relations and elimination of EPCI Committee 

Yesterday SHARE, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, New York City Comptroller Mark D. Levine, Trillium Asset Management, and SOC Investment Group sent a letter to Starbucks Corporation (SBUX) expressing shareholders’ significant concern regarding the Board’s current oversight of labor relations — specifically the apparent elimination of the standing Environmental, Partner, and Community Impact Board Committee (EPCI Committee). 

The EPCI Committee was established in November 2023 in response to shareholder concerns about management and the Board’s approach to labor relations and following a significant 52 percent vote at the 2023 annual meeting in support of a relevant shareholder proposal. 

The apparent dissolution of this standing Board committee without a clear and timely explanation and at a time when Starbucks continues to experience ongoing and well-publicized labour unrest is troubling to long-term investors in the company and warrants an explanation.