In August, United Church Funds (UCF) co-filed a shareholder resolution calling on Starbucks Corp. to separate the role of its Board Chair from its CEO. In the past, Starbucks had separated these two roles. But when Brian Niccol was named as the company’s current CEO in September 2024, Starbucks also named him Chair of the Board.
“Sixty percent of S&P 500 companies already separate the two roles, which makes Starbucks something of an outlier among its large-cap peers,” noted Matthew Illian, UCF’s Director of Responsible Investing. “And as the resolution points out, separating these roles allows the Chair to focus on leading the Board in oversight and governance while the CEO focuses on the company’s day-to-day business.”
The resolution’s lead filer is the SOC Investment Group, an investment advisory group affiliated with the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of major North American trade unions.
The action coincides with a call by the Starbucks Workers to boycott the coffee chain until it settles a contract with the union, which represents approximately 12,000 workers. Those workers are seeking a minimum wage of $17 per hour and more guaranteed hours. The resolution also addresses one of the union’s concerns, which is the November 2025 dissolution of the Board’s Environmental, Partner and Community Impact Committee, known as EPCI.
As Illian explains, “EPCI was established under the previous independent Chair. But the committee was removed less than two years after its creation, with no timely notice to shareholders. Its mandate included oversight of Starbucks’ labor commitments, and so we believe that investors have good reason to question whether the Board is providing oversight over these labor disputes.”
Starbucks has not yet set the date for its next shareholder meeting, but the shareholder resolution vote is expected sometime in January 2027. UCF remains committed to filing shareholder resolutions on behalf of the churches and faith-based organizations who invest with us and to continue exploring ways to use shareholder rights and other forms of engagement to advance values-aligned investing in the pursuit of a more just world.
Watch a video where UCF’s Matthew Illian and Adam Sank discuss this topic.