Last Updated on April 12, 2023, 4:30 PM | Published: March 14, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Regional Director over Oklahoma (Region 14) for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued yet another complaint against the Starbucks corporation (SBUX). The complaint is for unfair labor practices (ULPs) alleged to have happened in three Oklahoma City stores:
- Nichols Hills
- 23rd and Robinson
- 36th and May
A SBUX store located in Norman is also included in the complaint.
The NLRB has consolidated these new cases.
UPDATE — Due to illness among some of the NLRB staff, the initial hearing set for April 11th in Oklahoma City has been rescheduled for May 16.
A July hearing will be in Austin, Texas.
A number of managers were included in the complaint for violating labor law including:
- Three 36th and May store managers.
- Two 23rd and Robinson store managers.
- One Nichols Hills store manager.
- Four district managers.
The complaint
According to the public statement released by Workers United, “The Complaint alleges that SBUX management across the stores committed numerous illegal acts, including but not limited to”:
- Interrogating workers about union activity.
- Threatening loss of previously announced pay raises and benefits if workers unionized.
- Promising increased benefits and improved working conditions if workers refrained from union activity.
- Threatened disciplinary action if workers posted union literature in-store.
- Selectively enforcing strict policies on pro-union workers.
- Firing a barista for engaging in union activity.
According to the complaint, regarding selectively enforcing strict policies, the specific policies they abused were as follows:
- Dress code rules.
- Pin policy (message pins worn while on duty).
- Posting policy.
The pin policy for buttons and pins which allows room for selective enforcement, especially about the wearing of union pins, states:
“Partners may only wear buttons or pins issued to the partner by Starbucks for special recognition or for advertising a Starbucks-sponsored event or promotion; and one reasonably sized and placed button or pin that identifies a particular labor organization, or a partner’s support for that organization, except if it interferes with safety or threatens to harm customer relations or otherwise unreasonably interferes with Starbucks public image.” [italics added]
The posting and solicitation policy that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to post union-related notices or recruit union membership says:
“Partners are prohibited from distributing or posting in any work areas any printed materials such as notices, posters, or leaflets. Partners are further prohibited from soliciting from other partners, or non-partners in stores or on company premises during working time or the working time of the partner being solicited.”
Vindication
This latest action by the NLRB has vindicated the SBUX store workers in OKC.
“We are pleased that the NLRB has found merit in virtually every ULP charge we filed, further showing that Starbucks has been anything but ‘progressive’ toward workers who want a say in their workplace, not only in OKC but across the country,” said Collin Pollitt, a 23rd and Robinson barista and union organizer.
Workers United issued a statement Tuesday: “Starbucks, led by CEO Howard Schultz and Chair of the Board Mellody Hobson, has executed a scorched-earth union-busting campaign that includes firing over 120 pro-union leaders across the country, shuttering at least nine stores with union activity, and denying benefits to unionized stores illegally.”
The statement continues, “The NLRB has issued over 65 official complaints against the Company, encompassing over 1,300 violations and making Starbucks one of the worst violators of federal labor law in history.”
The complaint document
CPT.14-CA-294830.Order-Further-Consolidating-Cases-Consolidated-CPT-and-NOH-w-forms-attached
Alex Gatley covers labor activities in the state of Oklahoma.
