Starbucks Charges Workers United with Failing to Bargain in Good Faith
October 28, 2022
As of today, Starbucks has filed 22 unfair labor practice charges against Workers United and its representatives for failing to bargain in good faith. This is a significant increase from five charges filed on Monday, Oct. 24, when Starbucks representatives arrived at bargaining sites only to find that Workers United representatives were inappropriately broadcasting sessions to individuals who were not present and, in at least one meeting, made a video recording of the session that was posted online.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prohibits any party from making recordings or transcripts of contract negotiations because such actions “inhibit the free and open discussion necessary for conducting successful bargaining.”
Starbucks issued written statements to Workers United representatives regarding our concerns and our willingness to return to the bargaining table as soon as appropriate and lawful bargaining conditions—set by the NLRB—were in place. It was our sincere hope that the issue would be resolved swiftly, and we could begin bargaining. Unfortunately, Workers United representatives continued to thwart NLRB rules throughout the week, resulting in extensive and wholly unnecessary delays that negatively affect our partners.
Moving forward, we are hopeful that Workers United will adhere to NLRB bargaining requirements and put our partners’ needs first. We are eager to begin bargaining and remain ready to proceed with in-person sessions conducted at locations and times agreed upon by both parties—efforts that were prevented by the actions and conduct of Workers United over the past week.
October 24, 2022
As part of our commitment to hold ourselves and all involved accountable to the collective bargaining process defined by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Starbucks filed five unfair labor practice charges against Workers United and its representatives for failing to bargain in good faith in violation of the NLRA.
Starbucks and Workers United mutually agreed to meet in-person to engage in more than 40 separate sets of contract negotiations, each relating to a different store, starting today and continuing through Nov. 10.
Disappointingly, after the Starbucks partners and bargaining committee arrived at agreed-upon locations for in-person meetings in Buffalo, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Louisville, and Long Beach, Workers United began virtually broadcasting the sessions to individuals who were not present. In at least one session, Workers United also made a video recording that was posted online.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) prohibits any party from making recordings or transcripts of contract negotiations because such actions “inhibit the free and open discussion necessary for conducting successful bargaining.”
In a written statement given to Workers United shortly after, we stated our concerns and that our committees would remain onsite for the duration of the sessions, ready to return to the bargaining table if such behavior stopped. Broadcasting or recording these in-person sessions is deeply concerning and undermines the interests of our partners because negotiations may warrant the discussion of individuals by name and are likely to address a range of sensitive topics.
These events occurred after extensive efforts by Starbucks to move forward with more than 200 sets of contract negotiations, each of which relates to a different store.
We were pleased that Workers United representatives agreed to meet at locations around the country starting this week for in-person bargaining, which differed from earlier virtual bargaining sessions conducted by mutual agreement due to COVID-19 concerns.
In part, the charges filed by Starbucks state: “Starbucks remained (and remains) ready to proceed with good faith collective bargaining in meetings conducted at the locations and times agreed upon by the parties, which was prevented by the actions and conduct by Workers United today.”
It’s disappointing that Workers United would begin this process by creating unnecessary delays and needless confusion by distorting the facts on social media. Today’s charges seek to ensure that all parties involved will align to bargain in good faith moving forward.