Labor board officials allege Starbucks violated labor law during Chicago union push

Starbucks violated labor law by threatening and interrogating Chicago baristas at stores where workers were attempting to unionize, local labor board officials alleged in complaints filed against the company. .

The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago alleged that Starbucks violated labor law by threatening employees with the loss of benefits and wage increases for organizing; interrogating workers about the union; forbidding workers from wearing pro-union face masks and T-shirts; and telling workers that organizing was futile, according to a complaint filed Tuesday with the agency.

The complaint involves the coffee giant’s actions at two of its Chicago stores: one in Edgewater, which was one of the first in Chicago to unionize, and one in Palmer Square, where employees voted against forming a union.

Baristas at the 1070 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Starbucks voted overwhelmingly to unionize in May, weeks after the labor board alleges employees there were threatened with the loss of benefits and wage increases if they did so.

The Starbucks union narrowly lost an election at the 2543 N. California Ave. store in June.

Chicago’s regional director also issued a complaint against Starbucks at the end of July regarding the company’s actions at another store that unionized. That complaint alleges Starbucks managers at the company’s store at 1174 E. 55th St. in Hyde Park threatened employees with reduction in pay, loss of benefits and changes to working conditions; shared “unsolicited views on union activity” during mandatory one-on-one meetings with employees; and disciplinedan employee for testifying to the labor board at a representation hearing.

The complaint alleges the labor law violations began in late January, shortly after workers at the store filed for a union election. Baristas at the Hyde Park store voted narrowly to unionize in June.

The complaints mean the labor board’s regional director in Chicago found merit to unfair labor practices charges brought by the Starbucks union against the company. The cases will now go to trial at the agency; hearings before administrative law judges in both cases are scheduled for the fall.

Starbucks did not respond to a request for comment Thursday on the complaints.

“Starbucks as a company does not seem to care about labor law,” said Carlos Ginard, assistant manager with the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, the Service Employees International Union affiliate that represents the Starbucks workers.

“This has been a company that has been known to be very progressive,” Ginard said. “It’s time to be progressive with their own workers. And the progressiveness we’re asking for is to listen to them.”

The Starbucks union says that Jasper Booth-Hodges, a former barista at the Hyde Park store who led the union effort there, was fired by the company last week in retaliation for his role in pushing for a union at the store.

In its late July filing, the labor board’s regional director in Chicago found merit to allegations that Booth-Hodges was disciplined because he had testified in front of the labor board. The regional director’s complaint was filed before Starbucks fired Booth-Hodges.

Workers United has since filed an unfair labor practice charge with the NLRB in relation to his firing, according to Ginard.

Reggie Borges, a Starbucks spokesperson, said in a statement last week that Booth-Hodges was fired for violations of the company’s time and attendance policies.

“Jasper received coaching as well as prior written warnings including a final written warning,” Borges said. “Jasper was late on three occasions following the final written warning and was separated for that reason.”

Booth-Hodges doesn’t deny that he was late to work, but maintains he was targeted for being pro-union and knew the company was building a case against him.

“They had one thing on me, and it was that I was a full-time student and overslept sometimes, and they used it to get rid of me,” Booth-Hodges told the Tribune.

“Power is the most important thing to these corporations,” he said. “The reason they’re fighting so hard and they don’t care about all the laws they’re breaking is they can afford the legal fees. It’s not about the money, it’s about the power.”

Starbucks Workers United alleges that Starbucks has fired more than 80 pro-union workers across the country, according to Casey Moore, a barista on the Starbucks Workers United communications committee.

On Thursday, a federal judge found Starbucks must reinstate seven workers it illegally fired at a Memphis store. Baristas at the store are unionized with Workers United.

Nationally, workers at more than 220 stores have voted to unionize, according to the NLRB. More than 300 have filed for union elections. As of last week, the NLRB’s regional offices had issued 19 complaints against Starbucks covering a wide range of labor law violations.

In Chicago, workers at five Starbucks have voted to unionize while workers at two stores, including the one on California Avenue, have voted not to.

Starbucks posted record revenue between April and June, when it made $8.2 billion in revenue over the quarter.