Starbucks, one of America’s most popular coffee chains, officially retracted their original vaccine and testing requirements for their employees on Jan. 18, reversing an announcement made earlier this month by Chief Operating Officer, John Culver.
Earlier this month, the coffee company announced that all their employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or get tested on a weekly basis on their own dime. The decision was made shortly after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released an unsigned opinion, which would require workers employed by companies of 100 employees or more to be fully vaccinated or submit weekly tests.
This controversial opinion went to the Supreme Court for revision on Jan. 13 and was rejected for companies, but will pass as a requirement for healthcare workers. Six days after the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling against the OSHA opinion, Starbucks will no longer require vaccination or testing from their employees. Starbucks currently employs 349,000 workers— 228,000 of which work in the U.S. — and is estimated to serve 100 million customers internationally a year.
According to the Associated Press, the latest memo from Culver, the Chief Operating Officer, continues to strongly encourage vaccinations, booster shots, and wearing medical-grade surgical masks rather than cloth masks. The memo also states that nearly 90% of the Starbucks workforce has reported their vaccination status and the “vast majority” of employees are vaccinated. There has been no statement or disclosure of what percentage of workers are unvaccinated from the company.
“We respect the court’s ruling and will comply,” Culver wrote in a memo to Starbucks employees. “My responsibility, and that of every leader, is to do whatever we can to help keep you safe and create the safest work environment possible.”
The mandate retraction by Starbucks has been highly publicized as no other large restaurant chains have come forward after the Supreme Court decision earlier this week. Before the ruling, some U.S. food companies took it upon themselves to mandate the vaccine such as Tyson Foods, which required vaccination for its entire workforce by Nov. 1, 2021 and offered $200 to fully vaccinated frontline team members.
This new stance from Starbucks comes just a month after two more U.S. Starbucks locations push to unionize due to general unhappiness from workers with wages, working conditions, and the additional strain of working a food service job during a pandemic. With the nation facing an extreme labor shortage, Starbucks’ choice could be a way for the company to encourage new workers to join, regardless of vaccination status. According to The Guardian, the United States currently has 67,781,345 positive COVID-19 cases and reports 854,556 deaths.