Revealed: Starbucks fired over 20 US union leaders in recent months
Starbucks has fired over 20 union leaders around the US over the past several months as union organizing campaigns have spread across the country, the Guardian can reveal.
The news comes as Starbucks workers have filed petitions for union elections at more than 250 stores, spanning 35 states in the US. Starbucks’ chief executive, Howard Schultz, hasled a campaign against the union movement calling it “some outside force that’s going to dictate or disrupt who we are and what we do”.
The US’s top labor regulator, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), has issued complaints against Starbucks over many of the firings, demanding reinstatement and backpay for seven fired workers in Memphis, Tennessee, three fired workers in Overland, Kansas, six fired workers in Buffalo, New York, and three fired workers in Arizona. These cases will go before an administrative law judge unless a settlement is reached before those hearings.
The NLRB has accused Starbucks of more than 200 violations of federal labor laws over the course of union organizing campaigns since late 2021. NLRB regional offices have issued complaints in regards to 45 cases against Starbucks, according to the NLRB. Starbucks also incited more legal concerns over recently announcing the rollout of new benefits for all employees, but exempting workers at unionized stores. Workers at several Starbucks stores have held strikes in protest of the company’s behavior toward union organizing.
Laila Dalton, a shift supervisor at Starbucks for about three years in Phoenix, Arizona, was fired the day before her store’s union election ballots were being sent out. Dalton said she started getting write-ups for minor infractions and was interrogated and intimidated by management
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