The letter was made public a day after Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh met with several grassroots organizers—including Amazon Labor Union President Christian Smalls—in the Oval Office amid nationwide efforts by Starbucks and Amazon workers to unionize their workplaces in pursuit of better wages, benefits, and conditions. Starbucks' complaints to the White House were met with widespread derision on social media, including from baristas and union organizers who have witnessed firsthand the company's aggressive and unlawful attacks on workers. "A company which has threatened and fired people now demands the president meet with them," tweeted Buffalo barista Will Westlake, a member of the Starbucks Workers United Organizing Committee. "[Starbucks CEO] Howard Schultz failed in his run for president, and now he thinks he can invite himself over."