Something close to panic has set in among top Starbucks executives as baristas at some 233 coffee shop locations (and counting) have filed for union certification votes with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). As of this writing, thirty-one of those stores have voted to unionize, often by overwhelming margins; on Monday, the votes at stores in New Jersey and Baltimore were unanimous in favor of the union.

All of this has prompted Starbucks founder Howard Schultz to leave retirement — for the second time — and take a hands-on role as CEO and high-profile union adversary. The release last week of a leaked video call to thousands of store managers offers a revealing glimpse of the Schultz mentality, the Starbucks anti-union strategy, and the challenges Workers United, the barista union, will face in the weeks and months ahead.