The National Labor Relations Board on Friday filed a complaint against Starbucks for what the agency said was the unlawful dismissal of seven Memphis employees in retaliation for trying to unionize.
The labor council said the company fired the workers in February because they “joined or assisted in the union and were involved in joint activities, and to discourage workers from participating in these activities.”
The employees are part of an organizational wave at Starbucks in which employees voted to unionize at more than 20 stores and petitioned to retain votes at more than 200. The company has approximately 9,000 business locations nationwide.
Complaints are filed after a regional office of the labor council has concluded that allegations against employers or unions are well founded and are being litigated in an administrative court. The regional office wants Starbucks to make the laid-off employees whole, for example by paying them back for lost wages. The company could appeal an unfavorable decision to the National Labor Board in Washington.
“While we are excited about the news, from the moment each of us was fired, we knew this would be the outcome,” Nikki Taylor, one of the laid-off employees, said in a statement. “We’re excited to see the public know the truth and get back to work at our soon-to-be unionized Starbucks.”
Starbucks did not immediately comment, but at the time said it had fired the workers for violating its safety and security policies, including: allow members of the media to the store to conduct after-hours interviews and not to wear masks during the meeting.
Separately on Friday, the Arizona Labor Board’s regional office has filed a petition in federal court to demand the immediate reassignment of three Phoenix workers, whom Starbucks says Starbucks unlawfully retaliated in response to their union activities. The employment agency had filed a complaint against the company in March with formal allegations of retaliation in the case.
The office argued in court Friday that it had a “significant chance of success” in filing the complaint and that Starbucks would likely take similar actions during the proceedings unless its conduct was “immediately ordered and restricted.”
