Federal labor regulators are seeking to force Starbucks to reopen six Starbucks stores in the Los Angeles area and 17 other locations that were closed nationwide in 2022 in a move that was allegedly taken to stifle union organizing.
The complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board accused Starbucks of closing stores where workers had engaged in union activities and failing to engage in collective bargaining with unionized stores. Of the 23 stores, eight had active unions at the time of their closure.
The NLRB said Starbucks should reopen all 23 stores and reinstate employees who were transferred to other locations, left the company or lost their jobs due to the closures. Employees must also be compensated for lost income and benefits, and for time spent searching for new jobs.
“This complaint is the latest confirmation of Starbucks' determination to illegally oppose worker organizing,” Mari Cosgrove, a member of Starbucks Workers United in Seattle, said in a statement.
The NLRB complaint “adds to the litany of complaints detailed in the company's own report” released Wednesday, Cosgrove said. “If Starbucks is sincere in its proposals in recent days to forge a different relationship with its partners, this is exactly the type of illegal behavior it must stop.”
That report, an independent evaluation of the company's labor practices that shareholders requested in March against the company's recommendation, found no evidence of an “anti-union playbook” that suggested “surreptitious means to interfere with employees' freedom of choice.” “. He also attributed “missteps” in the way Starbucks has engaged with unionized workers, mainly to the company's lack of preparation for a wave of organizing and mistakes by local staff inexperienced in dealing with unions.
Starbucks has until December 27 to respond to the complaint.
A Starbucks spokesperson in an emailed statement referred to comments earlier this month from Starbucks North America executive vice president Sara Trilling, who said the company continues to open and close stores to strengthen its portfolio.
“Each year, as a standard business activity, we evaluate our store portfolio to determine where we can best meet the needs of our community and customers,” he said in a statement. “This includes opening new locations, identifying stores that need investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed and, in some cases, re-evaluating our footprint.”
The six Los Angeles-area stores involved in the complaint are located at:
- 8595 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069
- 5453 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027
- 120 S. Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
- 6290 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028
- 1601 Oceanfront Walk, Santa Monica, CA 90401
- 232 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Former employees of a closed Kansas City Starbuck location included in the complaint told the Kansas City Star that they had just minutes' notice when their store suddenly closed on the afternoon of August 22, 2022. They believed the store, one of the First Starbucks locations in the city to attempt unionization were closed to stop unionization efforts.
“With our election tight, I think Starbucks decided to close the store because they thought it was easier to just close the store than have to deal with it,” said barista Josh Crowell.
Crowell was among about 10 workers who picketed outside the store to protest the closure in August. Workers were told they would receive their last paycheck that week and would hear from management about their reassignment options.
At the time, a Starbucks spokesperson said the store closed due to safety and crime issues in the area.
Police records from the three months before the closure showed seven calls to the area. They included an administrative summons and another for armed assault. None of the calls resulted in officers filing a police report.
An administrative hearing in the case is scheduled for August 20, 2024.
Tribune News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
