For the first time in Starbucks workers’ union campaign, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that the company has taken illegal moves in its fight against the union, including retaliation against workers for organizing in Phoenix, Arizona.
Responding to a petition submitted by Starbucks Workers United in Jan, the NLRB foundAlyssa, a worker at the company, was fired. Laila Dalton, a union organizer, was also suspended.
The company suspended Dalton and fired Sanchez “to discourage employees from engaging in these or other concerted activities,” NLRB regional director Cornele A. Overstreet wrote, adding that the company’s actions against Dalton shows it “has been interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in the exercise of the rights guaranteed” by federal labor laws.
The complaint stated that managers illegally monitored workers and suspended Dalton because he violated rules. If a judge is able to confirm the labor board’s allegations, then Starbucks will have to hold meetings and post notices informing employees of their legal right to form a union at the Phoenix location. It will also have Sanchez reimbursed for lost wages.
“Today is the first step in holding Starbucks accountable for its unacceptable behavior during the unionizing efforts in our store and stores around the country,” said Bill Whitmire, a barista at Dalton and Sanchez’s location. “Laila and Alyssa were traumatized and their hope is that no other Partner EVER has to go through what they have gone through.”
Despite the complaint, a leaked video was discovered by More Perfect Union foundStarbucks is still disciplining Dalton, who says that managers are “out to get [her]” because of her role as an organizer.
The complaint was made just one day after a major shakeup of the company. Kevin Johnson, CEO announced on Wednesday that he’s stepping down and that former CEO Howard Schultz would step in in the interim. Johnson stated in a statement that he had planned to retire after the pandemic.
In an interview on CNBC on Wednesday, Starbucks board chair Mellody Hobson said that Schultz has a “connection with our people” and that he is “singularly capable” of engaging with workers. Schultz, however, is not as “singularly capable” of engaging with workers, More Perfect Union has observed. is vehemently anti-union and wrote in a memoir in the 90s that employees don’t need a union if they have “faith in me and my motives.”
Schultz also visited Buffalo, New York. earlier in the workers’ union campaignIn order to discourage employees unionizing. thbizarrely spoke in a speech comparing the company to Holocaust survivors. He said that the company was unselfish, even though workers were unionizing for better working conditions.
“Today, we learned that Kevin Johnson will be stepping down as Starbucks CEO & Howard Schultz will return as interim CEO,” Starbucks Workers United wrote on Twitter. “We encourage Howard Schultz, who has been a leader of Starbucks’ anti-union campaign, to put union-busting behind him and embrace Starbucks’ unionized future.”
Major investors have beenHobson and Johnson were asked to be neutral in their stance on the union. They also expressed frustration at Starbucks’ alleged retaliation. Union busting is a bad image for the company. last six months or so, the company’s stock has trended down despite record high revenues.
