NEWS & ANALYSIS


Starbucks Threatened Barista Over Extra Shift Ask, ALJ Says

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks made implied threats to nonunion workers at a Seattle cafe when a manager told baristas that they couldn't work shifts at a nearby store that unionized, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday.

NLRB Judge Says Starbucks Has 'Proclivity' For Breaking Law

By Emily Brill

A National Labor Relations Board judge issued a "broad" cease-and-desist order Tuesday banning Starbucks managers at a Wichita, Kansas, store from interfering with workers' right to engage in organizing activities, saying an "extraordinary" remedy is needed due to Starbucks' "proclivity for violating" federal labor law.

NLRB Official Nixes Union Removal Bid At Buffalo Starbucks

By Braden Campbell

A National Labor Relations Board official dismissed a worker's bid to dissolve a union at a Buffalo, New York, Starbucks based on pending allegations that the company has refused to bargain with Workers United.

Rule Shift Could Delay Elections To Decertify Starbucks Union

By Jessica Mach

Starbucks workers in New York state have filed three viable petitions to decertify their union, but experts say the National Labor Relations Board's approach to so-called blocking charges could dictate when the workers actually vote on the matter.

Buffalo Provided Fertile Ground For Starbucks Union To Grow

By Tim Ryan

Before it became one of the most successful union campaigns in recent memory, the effort to unionize Starbucks began with a handful of stores in Buffalo, New York. It's an origin owed to a coincidence of timing and geography, but experts say it has also benefited the upstart campaign.

Starbucks Illegally Threatened Fla. Workers, NLRB Judge Says

By Beverly Banks

A Starbucks manager unlawfully threatened the lead organizer at a Florida cafe, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday, saying the manager violated federal labor law by telling the worker that he didn't want the union drive at the store to "turn into another Memphis."

Starbucks Deal Didn't Go Far Enough, Labor Board GC Says

By Braden Campbell

The National Labor Relations Board's general counsel urged the board to nix a judge's decision approving a settlement between Starbucks and Workers United and to reverse Trump-era precedent limiting prosecutors' power to challenge partial deals, arguing the pact didn't go far enough.

Starbucks Threatened To Halt Benefits, NLRB Judge Says

By Beverly Banks

A Starbucks manager at a Los Angeles cafe violated federal labor law by telling baristas during an organizing drive that their benefits would be on hold and questioning an employee about her union support, a National Labor Relations Board judge concluded, ordering a broad cease-and-desist order against the coffee giant.

Starbucks Crossed Line With Subpoenas, NLRB Judge Says

By Braden Campbell

A National Labor Relations Board judge found that Starbucks violated workers' rights by seeking in response to the board's bid for a federal court injunction a trove of documents revealing insights into an ongoing union campaign, urging the board to order the company to pull the requests.

Starbucks Says It Offered To Rehire Ga. Worker In NLRB Suit

By Braden Campbell

Starbucks urged a Georgia federal judge to probe the National Labor Relations Board's bid to make the company rehire a worker whom prosecutors claim it fired for union organizing, saying the board's belated injunction request is moot because the company already offered to bring him back.

Unions Want ILO To Examine Labor Situation At Starbucks

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks' response to a nationwide union organizing drive shows why federal labor law is weak, Workers United and the AFL-CIO argue in a complaint obtained by Law360 Thursday, asking the United Nations International Labor Organization to review the U.S. government's compliance with international labor standards.

NYC Worker Seeks Ouster Of Union At Starbucks Roastery

By Beverly Banks

A barista at the Starbucks Reserve New York Roastery in Manhattan filed a decertification bid with the National Labor Relations Board, according to a copy of the petition obtained by Law360 on Wednesday, attempting to vote out a Workers United affiliate.

2nd Circ. Rejects Union's Bid To Nix Starbucks Subpoenas

By Beverly Banks

The Second Circuit on Tuesday dismissed attempts by Workers United and the National Labor Relations Board's general counsel to block Starbucks' subpoenas seeking internal union campaign communications, saying the union and board attorneys didn't show that the requests were necessary.

Bid To Oust Union At Rochester Starbucks Filed With NLRB

By Emily Brill

An effort to decertify Workers United at a Starbucks in Rochester, New York, is underway, with a petition lodged at the National Labor Relations Board to oust the recently installed union.

NLRB Judge Orders Starbucks To Rehire 5 Of 'Memphis 7'

By Jessica Mach

A Memphis, Tennessee, Starbucks must rehire five of the seven workers it terminated last year over alleged security violations, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Thursday, saying the company based the firings on the workers' union activity and therefore violated federal labor law.

NLRB Starbucks 'Memphis 7' Case Gets Icy 6th Circ. Reception

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Sixth Circuit judge appeared sympathetic Thursday to Starbucks Corp.'s bid to undo an order forcing the coffee chain to rehire seven union activists at a Memphis, Tennessee, store, with the judge seemingly unconvinced that the firings affected union support.

Starbucks Illegally Fired Chicago Barista, NLRB Judge Says

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing a lead union organizer and making unlawful statements to workers at two Chicago cafes, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Tuesday, saying the coffee chain must rehire the barista but concluding the company didn't illegally hold so-called captive audience meetings.

Starbucks Urges NLRB To Ax Loss In Sprawling Buffalo Suit

By Braden Campbell

Starbucks deployed managers to Buffalo, New York, in late 2021 to correct rampant mismanagement and not to quell a budding union drive, the company argued in a challenge to a National Labor Relations Board judge's findings of sweeping labor violations by the coffee giant.

Starbucks Baristas In Buffalo Call For Decertifying Union

By Beverly Banks

Employees at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, sought to oust Workers United on Friday, becoming the first cafe to file a decertification petition with the National Labor Relations Board after the one-year mark of the union's certification as the bargaining representative.

NLRB Official Says Starbucks Failed To Bargain At 163 Stores

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks refused to negotiate with Workers United at dozens of stores and delayed its response to the union's proposed bargaining dates, the National Labor Relations Board's Seattle office alleged, asking for vast remedies in a complaint covering multiple unfair labor practice charges across the country.