NEWS & ANALYSIS

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. Circuit panel expressed skepticism Thursday that it had any role in deciding two Starbucks workers' challenge to job protections for National Labor Relations Board members now that the agency agrees with the baristas' argument.

By Emily Brill

Starbucks flouted federal labor law at a Philadelphia store by encouraging workers to report union activity to their managers and by firing two workplace activists over violations of a previously unenforced attendance policy, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

By Emily Brill

The National Labor Relations Board was not obligated to accommodate Starbucks after its attorney filed a challenge to a board judge's ruling 23 minutes late, the D.C. Circuit ruled Thursday, holding that the board did not abuse its discretion by refusing to process the challenge.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks unlawfully suspended union supporters at a South Carolina cafe and temporarily closed the store, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the workers' actions, such as demanding raises from a manager, did not lose protection under federal labor law.

By Beverly Banks

The National Labor Relations Board tossed on Thursday an allegation that Starbucks violated federal labor law by not negotiating with Workers United over the discipline of a worker, declining to shift precedent on an employer's bargaining obligation with a union that hasn't notched a first contract.

By Beverly Banks

The Fifth Circuit must not enforce a National Labor Relations Board decision dinging Starbucks for unlawful subpoenas that sought employees' recordings of management and communications with Workers United, the coffee giant argued, challenging the board's application of 30-year-old precedent about discovery.

By Beverly Banks

A National Labor Relations Board attorney withdrew arguments in separate cases involving Starbucks and the American Civil Liberties Union about so-called captive audience meetings and negotiating over discipline with a new union, pointing to the acting general counsel's rescission of his predecessor's memorandums.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks illegally fired a Workers United supporter in North Carolina for striking and refused to hire another employee given their union activities, a National Labor Relations Board judge concluded Monday, saying the coffee chain can't ask workers to get a manager's blessing before exercising their organizing rights.

By Beverly Banks

The National Labor Relations Board must not dismiss claims accusing Starbucks of failing to negotiate with Workers United about the display of pride decorations at stores in Oklahoma City, the agency's acting general counsel argued, saying the coffee chain is required to bargain.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks violated federal labor law at two Connecticut stores in its efforts to quell support for Workers United, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, dinging the coffee giant for unlawfully firing a union supporter and threatening the loss of a Lyft reimbursement, among other actions.

By Beverly Banks

National Labor Relations Board prosecutors requested a Cemex bargaining order against Starbucks related to its alleged federal labor law violations at a Missouri store, after asking for a filing extension to make sure its post-hearing brief "reflects the views" of the agency's new acting general counsel.

By Beverly Banks

A mediator will help Starbucks and Workers United hash out the backbone for first contracts covering more than 500 unionized stores nationwide, the parties announced Thursday, marking the first time since December that the duo is going back to the bargaining table.

By Emily Brill

Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing one of the lead organizers of a union drive at a store in Bellingham, Washington, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Friday, rejecting the company's argument that it fired the worker because she was late to work.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks illegally retaliated against baristas in multiple states who support unionization, Workers United alleged in dozens of unfair labor practice charges announced Friday, as the union seeks to pressure the company to agree on the terms of first labor contracts after negotiations came to a standstill last month.

By Beverly Banks

U.S. Supreme Court precedent bars two Starbucks baristas' claims about removal protections for National Labor Relations Board members, the board told the D.C. Circuit as it urged the circuit to affirm a lower court's dismissal of a constitutional challenge against the agency.

By Braden Campbell

A recent Third Circuit opinion rejecting the National Labor Relations Board’s imposition of heightened remedies on employers may also provide unions a hidden benefit by limiting labor organizations’ liability when they're the ones in the board's sights, as may happen more often in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

By Beverly Banks

While it may appear that unions will face the bulk of the headwinds coming toward the collective bargaining landscape in 2025, with the coming change in presidential administration and cooling inflation, experts told Law360 that employers will also be met with uncertainty given the shifting political and economic climate. Here, Law360 explores significant contract negotiations in the new year.

By Braden Campbell

The National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks committed a host of labor violations to stem the first wave of union organizing in several Buffalo, New York-area stores three years ago, including firing union backers, promising to improve conditions and shuttering an organizing hub.

By Emily Brill

A pair of National Labor Relations Board judges correctly found that Starbucks illegally fought unionization in Los Angeles and Wichita, Kansas, but the judges overstepped by issuing broad cease-and-desist orders against the company, a split National Labor Relations Board ruled, saying narrow cease-and-desist orders are more appropriate.

By Emily Brill

Starbucks baristas in unionized stores in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago have gone on strike, Starbucks Workers United has announced, saying the union plans to spread the strike to other markets across the country between now and Christmas Eve.