A National Labor Relations Board panel affirmed on Wednesday a previous ruling that former CEO Howard Schultz had violated labor laws by telling a union-supporting employee, “if you’re not happy at Starbucks, you can go work for another company,” stating that it was an “implicit threat.”
“We emphasize that the board has long held unlawful employers’ statements that employees dissatisfied with working conditions should quit rather than try to improve them through union activity,” the National Labor Relations Board panel said in its decision. “For decades, the board has recognized that employer suggestions, in response to employees’ union or protected concerted activity, that if the employees are unhappy they should seek employment elsewhere reasonably tend to coerce employees from exercising their rights under the NLRA.”
The case was brought to the NLRB by Starbucks Workers United following the comments made by Schultz toward a Starbucks store employee in 2022, during his time as interim CEO of the company, and when tensions between the Seattle coffee chain and its union were at their peak.
Administrative Law Judge Brian Gee initially ruled last October that Schultz’s comments were an illegal threat. At the time, Starbucks did not comment directly on the decision, but told Reuters that Schultz was on a listening tour at the time, "to gather input on how best to shape the experiences in our stores."
With this final panel decision, Starbucks is ordered to cease and desist from impliedly threatening employees if they engage in union activities or restraining and coercing employees from exercising their rights. Starbucks stores in the area where the incident occurred in Long Beach, Calif. are required to post a notice reminding employees of their rights to unionize.
Starbucks could appeal the panel decision by taking it to the U.S. Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court. The company said in a statement:
“We disagree with the board’s decision regarding the collaboration sessions with our partners across the country held in 2022 to gather input on how best to shape the experiences in our stores. Our focus continues to be on training and supporting our managers to ensure respect of our partners’ rights to organize and continuing to make progress in our discussions with Workers United.”
Starbucks Workers United just passed its 500-store milestone of Starbucks cafes represented by the union, bringing the total percentage of unionized company-owned Starbucks U.S. stores up to nearly 6%.
Contact Joanna at [email protected]
