Labor Board Strikes Down Another Starbucks Union Pin Prohibition

Starbucks Corp. cannot enforce a rule prohibiting workers from distributing union pins in workplace break rooms after the National Labor Relations Board held it to be unlawful.

The board’s three Democratic members ruled unanimously Thursday that Starbucks violated the National Labor Relations Act when a manager instructed an employee to throw out a bag of Workers United pins.

The underlying dispute happened in 2022 and a cafe in Seattle, Wash. A store manager told an organizer with Starbucks Workers United that they couldn’t put union pins or paraphernalia in the break area. The store manager several days later threw out ...