Starbucks Illegally Threatened Seattle Workers, Agency Says (3)

Starbucks Corp. illegally threatened employees in cities including its Seattle hometown, US labor-board prosecutors alleged in a Tuesday complaint.

A National Labor Relations Board regional director claims that letters issued by the company to staff at 10 stores in Washington state and Oregon violated federal law. Employees were told that when workers unionize, “negotiations can often take more than a year -- if a contract is reached at all,” and that in the meantime “benefits and wages will essentially be frozen,” according to the complaint.

By issuing that message, the company “has been interfering with, restraining, and coercing employees in ...