Starbucks to Release Framework for Coffee Code in September
. . . "housing should have a roof and walls which . . . provide protection from
wind and rain" and wages should safisfy the "minimum necessities of the
family."
--from Guatemalan workers' recommendations for a code of conduct
In what would be the company's first major public step since its February 15
pledge to adopt a code of conduct, Starbucks Coffee Company intends to release
a "framework for a code of conduct" by the end of September.
Over the last six months, Starbucks has been engaged in an internal process of
research and development as well as consulting with other groups. On June 23,
Starbucks met with outside groups to share the preliminary results of their
work and obtain comments from meeting participants who included represenlatives
from the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, Business for Social
Responsibility, U.S./GLEP, and ANACAFE, the association of Guatemalan coffee
exporters.
Starbueks has also met with staff from the International Union of Foodworkers
(IUF) to discuss the role that trade unions could play in enforcing a code of
condust for coffee growers. On August 4, senior Starbucks executives and
U.S./GLEP met to discuss Starbucks' latest progress on the code.
In Guatemala, trade unions and campesino organizations have been working with
US/ GLEP to develop specific recommendations for a code of conduct. Proposed
standards for acceptable conditions on coffee plantations include "housing
should have a roof and walls which . . . provide protection from wind and rain"
and wages should satisfy the "minimum necessities of the family." The proposal
was submitted to Starbucks on August 2.
Starbucks has dedicated significant resources to the project and seems to be
seriously committed to promoting principles that could dramatically change the
way U.S. commercial coffee companies do business with coffee suppliers. There
are no existing coffee codes for commercial coffee companies in North America
or Europe that seek to ensure that growers from whom they buy coffee pay coffee
workers a living wage and respect their basic rights, including freedom of
association. Starbucks has indicated that the implementation of its code will
be a long-
term
process.
US/GLEP will analyze Starbucks' framework for a code of conduct when it is
released in late September and then make a recommendation regarding the next
steps in our effort to persuade U.S. coffee companies to adopt codes of conducts.
STARBUCKS CODE OUT
Now Comes the Hard Part
On October 20, Starbucks Coffee Company released a "Framework for a Code of Conduct" outlining minimum standards for working conditions for overseas producers from whom they buy. Star-bucks had first announced their commitment to adopt such a code in February, 1995 after being targeted by a North America-wide U.S./GLEP grass roots campaign. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, David Olsen, Starbucks vice president for coffee, credited activists for having "prodded" the company into developing its code.
Between February and October, Starbucks educated themselves about existing codes in other sectors and consulted with a wide spectrum of people with experience in codes from both industry and consumer groups, including the Coalition for Justice in the Maquiladoras, the International Labor Rights Fund, the International Union of Foodworkers, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Respon sibility and U.S./GLEP.
The document represents the first time that a U.S. commercial coffee com pany has set criteria for coffee selection that go beyond quality and price to in clude the working conditions under which coffee is produced. As such, it establishes the critical principle that U.S. coffee companies can and should take responsibility for working and environmental conditions under which coffee is grown.
The code lays out Starbucks' values in a Statement of Beliefs and states that Starbucks' goal is to "do business with those who share [our] values and abide by international standards for the treat ment of others." According to the code, those values include workers' right to freedom of association, the right to a wage that addresses basic needs of workers and their families, and access to safe housing, clean water, and health facilities and services.
There are, however, shortcomings to Starbucks' current code. Perhaps most seriously, it lacks any reference to possible enforcement mechanisms such as discontinuing purchases from non-compliant suppliers. There is also no explicit support for the right to collective bar gaining nor explicit opposition to discrimination, and there is no reference to working with workers' organizations, whose own detailed proposal for a model code of conduct seems to have been largely ignored.
Despite these limitations, Starbucks' code is a statement that the company considers itself publicly accountable for abuses and worker rights violations on plantations from which it buys.
The Starbucks campaign has already contributed to an acknowledgement by the Guatemalan coffee producers asso ciation Ñ ANACAFE Ñ of a need to improve working conditions and pay of cof fee workers, although Guatemalan work ers' organizations say that ANACAFE's steps to date are more heavily weighted towards public relations efforts than actual improvement in conditions. Some steps have been concrete, however, in cluding the November, 1995 settlement of a long-standing dispute at the Boliva plantation where management agreed to reinstate over 100 workers illegally fired in April 1994 after attempting to form a union.
Starbucks has said that the code is to apply to their purchases worldwide, but that Guatemala will be the initial pilot country for implementation. Starbucks also says that in 1996 they will also develop a strategic plan for implementation of their coffee mission for at least Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, and possibly other countries as well.
The Starbucks code now needs to be translated into concrete improvements for Guatemalan coffee workers. Enforcing the code will be a complex task given the difficulty in tracing the precise origins of most coffee beans, although there are at least some specific plantations from which Starbucks knows some of its beans come. U.S./GLEP has therefore initiated discussions with Starbucks to identify ways in which the company can work to obtain concrete improvements on at least some plantations over the next six to nine months as Starbucks begins the much lengthier process of working with the Guatemalan coffee producer as sociation to implement its code nation wide.
Other "next steps" for U. S./GLEP are to:
- ask other specialty coffee companies to make commitments similar to those made by Starbucks; and explore ways to increase the awareness of these new industry standards by working with industry and consumer groups such as the Specialty Coffee Association, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and similar organizations.
ACTION REQUESTED
Write to Starbucks and congratulate them on this important first step in support of the people who grow and pick their coffee. Also express your interest in seeing some concrete implementation in the near future.
Contact:
Howard Schultz
CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company
PO Box 34110
Seattle, WA 98124
USA
If you would like to receive a copy of Starbucks' "Framework for a Code of Conduct", contact Jeanne McKay at the same address or call 206-447-1575.
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