Starbucks Illegally Fired Chicago Organizer, NLRB Judge Rules

Managers at two Starbucks Corp. cafes in Chicago unlawfully threatened baristas and fired one organizer during a unionizing campaign last year, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

NLRB Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter said Tuesday that the managers violated federal labor law by threatening to change employees’ working conditions and benefits if they voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. The company also illegally discharged a union organizer at a store in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, the judge ruled.

The Hyde Park baristas filed for union representation in January 2022 and then voted to unionize in June. The company ...