Starbucks alleges labor board misconduct in union elections at U.S. cafes

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 result of an investigation.

The National Labor Relations Board and the Workers United union didn’t reply instantly to requests for remark.

The espresso chain mentioned NLRB brokers allegedly helped Workers United win elections by manipulating the voting course of after which collaborated to cowl up the conduct, the corporate mentioned in a letter to NLRB Chairman Lauren

McFerran and General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, in response to a duplicate seen by Reuters.

A yr in the past, there have been no unionized corporate-owned Starbucks areas within the United States. Now, workers at 216 cafes have voted to affix the union, whereas staff 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 Trader Joe’s.

According to Starbucks, the alleged misconduct, which the corporate says it realized from a whistleblower who’s a long-time NLRB worker, occurred throughout a Kansas City, 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.