NEWS & ANALYSIS

By Emily Brill

Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing one of the lead organizers of a union drive at a store in Bellingham, Washington, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Friday, rejecting the company's argument that it fired the worker because she was late to work.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks illegally retaliated against baristas in multiple states who support unionization, Workers United alleged in dozens of unfair labor practice charges announced Friday, as the union seeks to pressure the company to agree on the terms of first labor contracts after negotiations came to a standstill last month.

By Beverly Banks

U.S. Supreme Court precedent bars two Starbucks baristas' claims about removal protections for National Labor Relations Board members, the board told the D.C. Circuit as it urged the circuit to affirm a lower court's dismissal of a constitutional challenge against the agency.

By Braden Campbell

A recent Third Circuit opinion rejecting the National Labor Relations Board’s imposition of heightened remedies on employers may also provide unions a hidden benefit by limiting labor organizations’ liability when they're the ones in the board's sights, as may happen more often in President-elect Donald Trump’s second term.

By Beverly Banks

While it may appear that unions will face the bulk of the headwinds coming toward the collective bargaining landscape in 2025, with the coming change in presidential administration and cooling inflation, experts told Law360 that employers will also be met with uncertainty given the shifting political and economic climate. Here, Law360 explores significant contract negotiations in the new year.

By Braden Campbell

The National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks committed a host of labor violations to stem the first wave of union organizing in several Buffalo, New York-area stores three years ago, including firing union backers, promising to improve conditions and shuttering an organizing hub.

By Emily Brill

A pair of National Labor Relations Board judges correctly found that Starbucks illegally fought unionization in Los Angeles and Wichita, Kansas, but the judges overstepped by issuing broad cease-and-desist orders against the company, a split National Labor Relations Board ruled, saying narrow cease-and-desist orders are more appropriate.

By Emily Brill

Starbucks baristas in unionized stores in Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago have gone on strike, Starbucks Workers United has announced, saying the union plans to spread the strike to other markets across the country between now and Christmas Eve.

By Tim Ryan

Starbucks violated federal labor law by firing a worker at a New York store during a unionization campaign, the National Labor Relations Board ruled, reversing an agency judge's finding that the company fired the worker because he opened a letter from the board.

By Beverly Banks

Unionized Starbucks baristas have voted to authorize a strike at the coffee giant, Workers United announced Tuesday, as the parties went back to the negotiating table with outstanding issues for first contracts related to wages, benefits and settling unfair labor practice claims.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks must take down statements on a company website unveiled during Workers United's organizing campaign that offered training and improved benefits, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Monday, finding the coffee chain must post a notice nationwide that its comments violate federal labor law.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks violated federal labor law by not inviting unionized workers to ice skating parties in the Seattle area, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Tuesday, finding the coffee chain had a past practice of extending holiday gatherings as a benefit to workers.

By Beverly Banks

A policy barring workers at the Starbucks New York City Roastery from wearing more than one union pin violates federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Board said, finding a Second Circuit ruling about the company's one-button standard doesn't prevent board prosecutors from bringing the present challenge.

By Braden Campbell

Employers that tell workers during organizing drives that having a union would cut off direct relationships with managers may violate federal labor law, the National Labor Relations Board said Friday in a decision reversing nearly 40-year-old precedent. 

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks violated federal labor law by excluding unionized stores from a new benefit in four states under which it paid workers at nonunion stores weekly instead of biweekly, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled, finding the coffee chain couldn't excuse its actions by promising to bargain in good faith.

By Tim Ryan

The Sixth Circuit was divided Thursday over Starbucks' challenge to a National Labor Relations Board order finding the coffee giant unlawfully fired a worker at a Michigan cafe, with the judges probing the limits of the board's power to remedy unfair labor practices.

By Tim Ryan

Starbucks violated federal labor law by issuing discipline to a worker for wearing a union shirt on the job, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Friday, saying the company previously allowed workers to wear nonunion apparel without punishment.

By Emily Brill

The National Labor Relations Board should have accepted Starbucks' challenge to an agency judge's order even though it was 23 minutes late, the company told the D.C. Circuit, saying the lateness was connected to a technical issue and should have been considered innocuous.

By Beverly Banks

Starbucks should be ordered to bargain with Workers United at a Long Island, New York, cafe under the National Labor Relations Board's Cemex standard, an administrative law judge ruled Monday, finding the coffee giant illegally threatened and questioned workers in the lead-up to a representation vote.

By Emily Brill

The Eighth Circuit should reject Starbucks' "groundless" challenge to the well-established standard for determining when employers' statements constitute unlawful threats, the National Labor Relations Board has argued, asking the court to enforce the board's holding that a store manager threatened unionizing workers by saying they might not get raises.