Starbucks Illegally Fired Staff for Meeting With Union in Cafe

Starbucks Corp. must reinstate and compensate baristas at a Wisconsin store after a National Labor Relations Board judge concluded the company had engaged in a “scorched earth campaign” against their unionizing workforce.

Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing four baristas at a Madison, Wis. cafe in 2022 and refusing to consider one of them for rehire, said NLRB Administrative Law Judge Melissa Olivero in her ruling Monday.

Workers at the store began organizing with Starbucks Workers United in March 2022 and held an organizing meeting in the cafe with a union representative. The meeting stretched until after the store ...