According to reporting byJacob Bogage in the Washington Post, Starbucks violated federal labor law in "egregious and widespread" ways while attempting to suppress union organizing drives, an NLRB judge ruled. Starbucks was ordered to reopen closed locations and pay back wages and damages to workers who are organizing unions at the company.
Starbucks demonstrated "a widespread disrespect for the employees' fundamental rights," wrote Judge Michael A. Rosas in a 220-page judgment.
Rosas ruled that the business retaliated against staff members associated with Starbucks Workers United as they started a union drive in 2021. The case involved a lengthy investigation including 33 allegations of unfair labor practices.
Starbucks must stop a wide range of actions as a result of Rosas's order, including retaliating against workers for unionizing, promising better pay and benefits if workers gave up their union membership, monitoring union-supporting employees while they are on the job, refusing to hire applicants who support the union, moving union organizers to new stores to stop their activity, and overstaffing stores in advance of union votes.
Starbucks must stop a wide range of actions as a result of Rosas's order, including retaliating against workers for unionizing, promising better pay and benefits if workers gave up their union membership, monitoring union-supporting employees while they are on the job, refusing to hire applicants who support the union, moving union organizers to new stores to stop their activity, and overstaffing stores in advance of union votes.
Boggage says, "Rosas’s order also calls for Schultz and Denise Nelson, the company’s senior vice president of U.S. operations, to read a 14-page notice that explains workers’ rights and how the company violated the law."
In other news, "Proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services Inc (ISS) on Monday recommended that Starbucks shareholders back a proposal for an outside examination of the coffee chain's labor policies in light of its response to union organizing at hundreds of U.S. cafes," reports Hilary Russ for Reuters.
March 1, 2023