Union busting efforts by the Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) are starting to fall flat after facing defeats to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Employers at a Phoenix, Arizona Starbucks location were preparing for a union vote on Friday after last week's vote was delayed by an appeal to the NLRB by Starbucks. The appeal sought to force all retail locations in the same district to vote at once, with the company raising a complaint against a single store voting alone. The NLRB, however, rejected the argument because plenty of precedents exist for single-store votes.
This is only the recent battle that Starbucks has lost, however. In fact, the firm lost its first major battle against unions in October, when a similar request to prevent Buffalo area stores from voting was denied. Two of those locations would become the first unionized Starbucks locations.
Earlier in February, the firm's lawyers also missed a critical deadline to submit filings against union efforts to the NLRB. According to Starbucks' lawyers, the filing was delayed due to a software glitch with their copy of Microsoft Outlook (NASDAQ: MSFT). The NLRB rejected the excuse, opening the path to further unionization efforts.
Given the ongoing effects of the Great Resignation and the growing popularity of unions among younger workers, Starbucks certainly seems to be fighting an uphill battle.
The firm continues to argue that unions aren't just detrimental to itself, but to workers as well. Starbucks has argued that its structure is designed to enable employees to essentially "work at any store at any time," and that joining a union restricts that freedom.
The company didn't explicitly mention how unionizing would inhibit this supposed freedom of movement, though.
Extenuating circumstances make it a bit hard to tell how much effect these losses have had on Starbucks shares, given the market effects of Russia's continued invasion of Ukraine. At noon on Friday, shares were down 1.8%.