in May, when Starbucks announced pay increases for its workers—officially called"partners"—who do not belong to unions.Starbucks, which has more than 15,000 U.S. locations, legally can't unilaterally give these benefits to stores that have union activity, according to spokesperson Reggie Borges. Instead, the new benefits can be discussed in collective bargaining, he said.
However, Workers United, the group attempting to organize Starbucks cafes, has argued that the union waived its right to negotiate over extending benefits being provided to other stores, so there's no legal obstacle to doing so... "Starbucks is blatantly disregarding the law to continue their scorched-earth union-busting campaign," Workers United said in a statement."Starbucks is not only damaging their brand and their business, but irrevocably damaging their credibility as a company."
The NLRB last month issued a complaint accusing Starbucks of violating U.S. labor law by withholding new benefits from unionized workers.Monday that Peter Saleh, an analyst at the global financial services firm BTIG, wrote late last month that"we believe the recent wage hikes… are having an adverse effect on the labor unions, with the number of stores filing for a vote declining to the lowest level all year in August."Sen. Bernie Sanders after the NLRB complaint.