The next phase of Starbucks' turnaround plan is offering executives up to $6 million in stock grants, as baristas scrap to get annual raises above 2%

Workers march and hold signs reading, "Starbucks Workers United." (Credit: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis—Getty Images)

• Starbucks will reward company executives with up to $6 million in stock grants should they effectively fulfill cost-saving and timely rollout goals of the company’s “Back to Starbucks” turnaround strategy. Starbucks Workers United representatives dubbed the move “ridiculous and irresponsible” amid contract negotiations over barista wages.

Starbucks is sweetening the pot for executives to expedite the company’s turnaround efforts, even as workers protest the company’s wages for baristas.