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Push to dissolve union at Starbucks in Mall of America blocked by federal labor board [1]
['Max Nesterak', 'More From Author', '- January']
Date: 2024-01-10
The National Labor Relations Board sided with the union representing baristas at a Starbucks in the Mall of America in Bloomington, blocking some workers’ petition to hold an election to oust the union. The action comes as labor regulators review allegations of unfair labor practices by the Seattle coffee giant.
The board’s decision stalls a counteroffensive by anti-union activists aiming to roll back the victories of Starbucks Workers United, which has unionized more than 375 stores across the country in one of the most high-profile national organizing campaigns in recent memory.
While Starbucks Workers United enjoyed a surge of support after its first union election victory in Buffalo, N.Y. in 2021, enthusiasm has flagged in recent months as the workers are still without a first contract, while also contending with an anti-union campaign by the company that has included firing union organizers, closing unionized stores and giving pay raises to non-union workers.
No store has finalized a labor contract governing wages and benefits, leaving the union with little to show workers years into its campaign.
The non-profit National Right to Work Foundation has leveraged workers’ apathy or frustrations with the union in a national campaign to get rid of union representation, creating a second front the union must battle.
Last fall, the anti-union group helped barista Rebecca Person and more than half her coworkers at the Starbucks on the first floor of the Mall of America file a petition with the NLRB asking to hold an election to sever ties with Starbucks Workers United, just a year after workers voted to join the union.
Many of the workers who voted for the union no longer work at the store, a function of the high turnover common in the service industry. Person and many of her colleagues were hired after the initial election.
The National Right to Work Foundation has also assisted workers at Starbucks stores in Manhattan, Buffalo and Pittsburgh to petition for decertification elections. Employees at nearly 20 stores have petitioned to oust the union, according to Starbucks.
The NLRB generally prohibits decertification petitions for one year after a union is certified, but that can be extended if an employer refuses to bargain or faces pending unfair labor practice charges.
Regional NLRB offices have issued 127 complaints against Starbucks, including that Starbucks has failed or refused to bargain with workers at 259 stores — including the Mall of America store.
In a 2-1 decision on Friday, the board upheld a regional director’s ruling denying Person’s petition for an election.
Marvin Kaplan, the only Republican-appointed member on the board, dissented and said an election should be granted because the unfair labor practice charge had been pending for nearly nine months before the decertification petition was filed.
In a statement, National Right to Work Foundation Vice President Patrick Semmens said the NLRB was ignoring its own rules and trapping Starbucks employees in a union they don’t want.
“It is shameful that the Board officials continue to disenfranchise workers seeking votes to remove incumbent unions, even as they continue to schedule unionization votes at the behest of SBWU,” the statement said.
Starbucks Workers United did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
*This story has been updated with comment from the National Right to Work Foundation.
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https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/01/10/push-to-dissolve-union-at-starbucks-in-mall-of-america-blocked-by-federal-labor-board/
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