Starbucks on Monday accused the federal labor board overseeing union elections at its U.S. cafes of misconduct and requested that elections be suspended nationwide pending the end result of an investigation.
The Nationwide Labor Relations Board and the Employees United union didn’t reply instantly to requests for remark.
The espresso chain mentioned NLRB brokers allegedly helped Employees United win elections by manipulating the voting course of after which collaborated to cowl up the habits, the corporate mentioned in a letter to NLRB Chairman Lauren
McFerran and Common Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, in keeping with a duplicate seen by Reuters.
A yr in the past, there have been no unionized corporate-owned Starbucks areas in the US. Now, staff at 216 cafes have voted to affix the union, whereas employees at 46 have voted towards unionizing.
Starbucks Corp’s allegations come amid a rising unionization drive amongst U.S. retailers, together with Amazon.com Inc, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, Lululemon Athletica Inc and grocer Dealer Joe’s.
In response to Starbucks, the alleged misconduct, which the corporate says it discovered from a whistleblower who’s a long-time NLRB worker, happened throughout a Kansas Metropolis, Kansas union election, however is believed to have taken place in different areas as effectively.
“If the NLRB does not respond by investigating and remedying these types of actions, we do not see how the Board can represent itself as a neutral agency adjudicating unfair labor practice disputes – and elections – in a manner that is fair, honest, and proper, without the appearance of impropriety,” Starbucks mentioned in its letter.
