Starbucks Defends In-Person Bargaining in Nationwide Labor Case

Starbucks Corp. argued it didn’t violate federal labor law when it insisted on in-person collective bargaining with union members at more than 100 cafes across the nation, as hearings began in the largest pending labor rights case against the coffee giant.

Contract negotiations benefit from being able to make eye contact and see the body language of union organizers, Starbucks lawyers said Tuesday in opening statements before a National Labor Relations Board judge in Seattle, blocks away from the coffee giant’s first-ever store.

The case, consolidated from 32 NLRB charges, accuses Starbucks of unlawfully refusing to bargain in good faith ...