Starbucks Now Faces 45 NLRB Complaints Over Union-Busting Efforts

SEATTLE — National Labor Relations Board regional offices across the country have now issued 45 complaints against Starbucks over the company's efforts to tamp down on the growing union movement.

The latest complaint, filed late Tuesday by the NLRB's New Orleans regional office, accuses the company of improperly firing seven Memphis employees for participating in unionization. The complaint also accuses the store of a "wide variety of coercive measures", like disciplining the employees who started the union campaign, closing portions of the store to shut down pro-union displays, and removing all pro-union materials from the store's community bulletin board. The seven employees fired by the store were all union activists, and five were members of the union organizing committee.

The NLRB's injunction asks that all seven be reinstated immediately.

“Given Starbucks’ egregious conduct interfering with the federally protected rights of its employees, we are asking the Court to swiftly grant the injunction,” said NLRB Region 15 Regional Director Kathleen McKinney. “Without immediate interim relief from this Court, Starbucks could irreparably harm the campaign in Memphis, and send a chilling message to its employees across the country that they too will suffer the same fate as the terminated Memphis employees if they dare to exercise their right to engage in protected activities. It is crucial that these seven employees be reinstated and that Starbucks cease its unlawful conduct immediately so that all Starbucks workers can fully and freely exercise their labor rights.”

Of the other complaints, 29 were filed last Friday and represent a variety of issues in the Buffalo area. Buffalo is where the Starbucks Workers United Movement began, and as such has been a central target for the coffee giant's union-busting efforts.

Other charges include a nationwide complaint from NLRB over the Starbucks employee handbook, which alleges the company imposes "overly-broad and discriminatory rules" to prevent unionization efforts, like banning Starbucks' partners from wearing union insignias.

Finally, several complaints target individual stores, like this complaint filed against a Plover, WI location, alleging that store management used coercive language to try and dissuade employees from unionizing, and illegally interrogated employees about union efforts, union members claim.

While the dust is still settling over the Memphis injunction, more charges could be incoming over the next few months and weeks. As of Tuesday, the NRLB says it has received 128 open Starbucks-related unfair labor practice complaints against stores in 19 states. Of those, Starbucks Workers United filed 125 complaints, United Food & Commercial Workers filed another, and Starbucks has filed two against Workers United. The NLRB says its regional offices will continue to investigate the outstanding complaints and determine whether to issue a complaint, seek a settlement, or dismiss the charge.

Despite Starbucks' alleged interference with unionization efforts, the Starbucks Workers United Movement continues to gain ground: Tuesday, five more Starbucks stores voted to join the union, and more than 250 stores have now filed union petitions.