"NLRB sues Starbucks for retaliating against 3 workers involved in unionizing," 24 Apr. 2022

The National Labor Relations Board has sued the coffee shop chain Starbucks for allegedly retaliating against three employees who were involved in organizing a union.

... Cornele Overstreet, director of the NLRB region based in Phoenix, asked the U.S. District Court in a filing on Friday to immediately reinstate the employees with their usual schedules and accommodations, among other requests.

... Starbucks said it "wholly disagree[s]" with the claims made by the labor board in the lawsuit. "These partners were terminated because they violated our established policies. In some instances, they also violated state law," a Starbucks spokesperson said. "A partner's interest in union representation does not exempt them from the standards we've put in place to protect partners, customers, and the communities that we serve." Starbucks refers to its employees as "partners."

... "The truth is that Starbucks is grasping at straws while they're launching an unprecedented and aggressive anti-union campaign against workers, including terminating over 19 union leaders across the country," a union spokesperson said in a statement to NPR.

Twenty-eight Starbucks stores across the country have voted to form a union out of 31 stores that voted, Workers United says. More than 220 in 31 states have sought union elections.