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Arizona Starbucks becomes 1st outside New York to unionize after a 'landslide victory'
Several workers from a Mesa Starbucks store cheered and hugged at a local union hall after the results came in. Workers were overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing, voting 25-3.
PHOENIX (AP) - Federal labor officials have asked a judge to force Starbucks Corp. to reinstate three union activists at its Phoenix location, alleging that the coffee giant engaged in unfair labor practices, documents show.
The National Labor Relations Board’s Phoenix regional director, in a filing Friday in U.S. District Court in Arizona, sought an injunction that would make Starbucks hire back its three employees — who were three of four members of the union organizing committee.
The NLRB’s petition is the latest blow to the coffee chain as locations nationwide seek to unionize. Workers at the flagship Seattle location voted Thursday to form a union, as did baristas in Colorado on Friday.
In Phoenix, federal labor officials allege that Starbucks retaliated after it learned of employees there seeking to unionize.
"Among other things, Starbucks disciplined, suspended, and discharged one employee, constructively discharged another, and placed a third on an unpaid leave of absence after revoking recently granted accommodations," the filing states.
Starbucks did not immediately return a request for comment Friday evening.
"As we have said throughout, we will respect the process and will bargain in good faith. We hope that the union does the same," Reggie Borges, a spokesman for Starbucks, said in a statement after the Seattle location’s vote.
Starbucks officials have spoken against unionizing, asserting the company functions best when it can work directly with its employees. Some workers have disputed that claim.
Efforts to form unions have led to tense conflict. Earlier this month, seven Starbucks workers were fired after spearheading a union campaign in Memphis, Tennessee. The company said they violated policy by reopening a store after closing time, inviting non-employees inside and doing TV interviews from there.
Employees countered that Starbucks was retaliating and said they planned to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
After decades of decline, unions have become a popular strategy. Multiple polls show union approval is high — and growing — among younger workers. U.S. union membership levels are ticking upward for workers between 25 and 34, even as they decline among other age groups, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Mesa Starbucks to vote to unionize
Employees at a Starbucks in Mesa are expected to move forward on a vote on whether to unionize their shop.