LADUE — A federal board dismissed charges that Starbucks filed against its workers’ union, potentially clearing a key sticking point in the groups’ contract negotiations.
Over the past year-and-a-half, as Starbucks baristas have voted to unionize at hundreds of stores across the U.S., meetings to establish labor contracts have stalled as the groups argued over whether the talks could be held in a partly virtual format.
Local union members who attended the meetings in person brought national union representatives into the meetings over Zoom. The company argued that, as a result, its negotiators could not tell who was present in the sessions, and said that excerpts of meetings had been shared on social media. Starbucks filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the bargaining units for multiple stores, including several in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
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On Monday evening, the National Labor Relations Board issued a letter dismissing Starbucks’ charges, according to a copy provided by a union official. The letter says the union’s insistence on hybrid bargaining “was not unreasonable, burdensome, or in bad faith.â€
The board also found merit on 25 unfair labor practice charges filed against Starbucks for refusing to bargain with the union, NLRB spokesperson Kayla Blado said in an email Tuesday. The groups could settle, or the issue will go to a hearing.
The decision comes as former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is scheduled to testify before Congress on Wednesday about the company’s fraught labor talks.
Starbucks responded in an emailed statement to the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday night, saying the company believes the NLRB's decision contradicts legal precedent around good faith bargaining. The company plans to challenge it.
Starbucks has until April 10 to file an appeal.