Starbucks baristas are on the verge of forming a union. The company is pushing back.

Earlier this month, Howard Schultz, the man who built Starbucks into a global giant, traveled to this city for an unusual gathering of the company’s employees.

Schultz talked about growing up poor in Brooklyn and the values that guide Starbucks. The company is about much more than coffee, he told hundreds of assembled baristas: It is about humanity, community and love.