Judge: Starbucks has engaged in “enormous” anti-union activity
A judge on the US National Labor Relations Board is ordering Starbucks and its CEO Howard Schultz to agree – on camera – not to suppress union activity after it was ruled that the coffee company illegally attempted to ban unionization at its stores in the United States to suppress Buffalo.
On Wednesday, Michael Rosas, an NLRB judge, ruled that Starbucks had engaged in “egregious and widespread misconduct demonstrating a general disregard for the basic rights of employees,” and issued a sweeping executive order that forced the coffee company to take action nationwide.
Rosas agreed with union officials that Starbucks violated labor laws when it attempted to stop unionization at its Buffalo stores, including sending senior officials to make “repeated and unprecedented visits to the stores to create the impression… to arouse that workers union activities are monitored.”
The judge’s order includes a 13-page notice affirming the right of Starbucks employees to join a union and a lengthy list of commitments by the coffee company not to engage in activities deemed to be obstructive to unionization.
Schultz must either read the notice or be present when an NLRB representative reads the notice at the Buffalo-area Starbucks stores. The company must also record and distribute video of the meeting and post paper copies of the notice in its stores across the country.
The judge also ordered Starbucks to compensate workers it believes were unfairly penalized for their union activities. Additionally, Rosas concluded that Starbucks had falsified a failed union vote at a Buffalo store and ordered the company to negotiate with the union.
“This is truly a historic ruling,” said Gary Bonadonna Jr., the regional head of Workers United, which helps Starbucks workers organize, in a statement.
Starbucks did not immediately respond Wealth’s request for comment. The coffee company said in a statement it was “considering all options to obtain further legal review.” New York Times. Rosa’s order can be appealed to the full NLRB and then to federal court.
Even if appeals confirm Rosas’ order, Schultz may not be around to read the notice. Laxman Narasimhan will replace Howard Schultz as Starbucks CEO in April, ending Schultz’s third term as Starbucks CEO.
The National Labor Relations Board is an independent US government agency that oversees union elections and investigates allegations of unfair labor practices. The NLRB previously ruled that Starbucks violated labor laws by retaliating against union activists.
Workers at a Buffalo Starbucks store were the first coffee company workers to unionize in December 2021. Since then, employees at hundreds of Starbucks stores have voted to join the union.
open letter
Also on Wednesday, dozens of Starbucks employees and managers signed an open letter complaining about the company’s anti-union activities and its mandate to return to office. In January, Schultz ordered company employees to return to the office at least three days a week.
“We love Starbucks, but these actions shake confidence in Starbucks’ leadership,” the letter said.
However, Schultz believes the union effort was caused by a lack of leadership — specifically his leadership. “The unions came up because Starbucks wasn’t leading in a way that fits its history as a values-based company, and I came back to basically restore those values,” he said in an interview with CNN last week.
Schultz also said unionization at companies like Starbucks and Apple is an indication of deeper social issues. “I was shocked, stunned, to hear the loneliness, the fear, the broken trust in government, the broken trust in business, the broken trust in family, a lack of hope in terms of opportunity,” he told CNN.
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