Starbucks Wrongly Denied Raises, Withdrew Benefits, Judge Rules

Starbucks Corp. violated federal labor law by withholding cashless tipping at unionized or unionizing stores, giving smaller raises to some employees at those locations, and unilaterally ending Covid-19 benefits for unionized workers, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled.

The company’s illegal actions in this case and in other decisions warrant a broad cease-and-desist order, Administrative Law Judge John Giannopoulos held in a nationwide order Tuesday.

ALJs have issued more than 70 decisions finding that Starbucks committed unfair labor practices in response to the nationwide unionization campaign that’s led to workers at approximately 460 stores voting to unionize.

While Starbucks ...