Labor organizers across the U.S. have been running campaigns to unionize more than 250 Starbucks
In a letter sent to the agency, Starbucks is alleging that an NLRB worker unfairly coordinated with union efforts at a Kansas City location, including by providing confidential real-time voting results to the union and special voting arrangements for some employees.
"If the NLRB does not respond by investigating and remedying these types of actions," the company wrote, "we do not see how the Board can represent itself as a neutral agency adjudicating unfair labor practice disputes - and elections."
While the vote was meant to be facilitated using mail-in votes, the NLRB worker allegedly allowed some Starbucks employees to vote in person without notifying the company. The company says this has happened in at least three locations, including Kansas City.
"Starbucks respects the rights of its partners to decide for themselves whether they wish to be represented by a union," reads the company letter. "But those rights can only be properly exercised - and realized - through a neutral, honest process."
The company is asking the NLRB to stop all ongoing votes while the investigation is underway, and has also requested that any future votes be held fully in person.
"Those challenges should be raised in filings specific to the particular matters in question," said NLRB spokeswoman Kayla Blado. "The regional staff - and, ultimately, the board - will carefully and objectively consider any challenges raised through these established channels, which include opportunities to seek expedited review in both representation and unfair labor practice cases."
Starbucks Workers United union officials have been quick to push back against Starbucks claims, arguing that they're just another part of the chain's efforts to obstruct the union votes.
"This is Starbucks yet again attempting to distract attention away from their unprecedented anti-union campaign, including firing over 75 union leaders across the country, while simultaneously trying to halt all union elections," the union told NPR. "Workers have spoken loud and clear by winning 82 percent of union elections."
According to labor professor John Logan with San Francisco University, the coffee company has filed countless complaints regarding procedural issues that are a normal part of most elections. He says these tactics force labor officials to waste money to resolve complaints, many of which are baseless.
"So often, with Starbucks, the complaint, or the appeal, is the point," says Logan.
"When there's hundreds of elections going on - they've conducted well over 250 elections and over 300 petitions - people can make mistakes without the intentions of swinging the election to the union or against the union," he continued.
Along with stalling and wasting union boards' resources, Starbucks has also allegedly crossed the line into misconduct. There are more than 200 charges of unfair labor practices that have been filed against the chain in less than a year. In comparison, a labor dispute between Caterpillar
