Starbucks Illegally Fired 6 NY Union Activists, Judge Rules (3)

Starbucks Corp. illegally fired six employees in New York State as part of an anti-union “reign of coercion,” a US National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday.

The judge wrote that Starbucks had committed hundreds of violations of federal law at its cafes in the Buffalo and Rochester areas, “demonstrating a general disregard for the employees’ fundamental rights.”

As part of the ruling, the judge said Starbucks should be ordered to recognize a union at its store in Hamburg, New York, despite a previous union loss, because of its “egregious and widespread misconduct.”

Starbucks threatened and interrogated workers, restricted discussion of pay and deployed high-ranking officials to make “repeated and unprecedented visits to stores in order to more closely supervise, monitor, or create the impression that employees’ union activities are under surveillance,” the judge wrote.

This ruling is the latest in a series of orders against the coffee chain, which is battling an unprecedented union campaign that’s spread from Buffalo to hundreds of stores across the country. On Wednesday, Starbucks corporate staff also sent an open letter protesting the company’s alleged union-busting, and US Senator Bernie Sanders said the committee he chairs will vote next week on subpoenaing interim Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz on the issue.

Starbucks said its conduct was lawful and consistent with its existing policies. “We believe the decision and the remedies ordered are inappropriate given the record in this matter and are considering all options to obtain further legal review,” the company said in an emailed statement. Starbucks has said repeatedly that all claims of anti-union activity there are “categorically false.”

Rulings by NLRB judges can be appealed to labor board members in Washington, and can then be appealed into federal appeals court. The agency can order policies changed and workers reinstated, but lacks authority to hold executives personally liable or make companies pay punitive damages for violations.

In addition to reinstating the six fired workers, the judge said Starbucks should be ordered to reinstate a seventh illegally forced out of the company, to compensate workers whose hours were cut in response to the union campaign, and to create a video recording of Schultz attending a meeting with employees at which a notice about workers’ rights is read.

In an emailed statement, the union described the ruling as a watershed event. “After waiting through months of stalling tactics and the slow wheel of justice to turn, this will reinvigorate and re-energize the momentum of this movement,” barista Michael Sanabria said.

(Updates with comment from Starbucks and union)

--With assistance from Parker Purifoy.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Josh Eidelson in Palo Alto at jeidelson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Craig Gordon at cgordon39@bloomberg.net

Richard Clough, Graham Starr

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