Starbucks pushes appeal in Memphis union case; US labor tactics
scrutinized
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[May 04, 2023] By
Daniel Wiessner
(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp's lawyers on Thursday will urge a U.S.
appeals court to rule that a lower court should not have forced the
company to reinstate seven workers allegedly fired for leading union
organizing efforts.
The case involving a Starbucks cafe in Memphis, Tennessee is one of many
legal disputes stemming from a nationwide union campaign at the world's
biggest coffee chain whose labor practices are under scrutiny in the
U.S. Congress.
The dispute is among the first to reach an appeals court. Judges and the
National Labor Relations Board have found the company violated federal
labor law in several other cases.
Starbucks' lawyers on Thursday will tell a three-judge panel of the 6th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio that a judge was wrong
to rule that the firings of the Memphis workers were motivated by
anti-union animus.
A loss for Starbucks could ratchet up scrutiny of its labor practices
after a recent U.S. Senate hearing and a shareholder proposal directing
the company to conduct an independent assessment of its response to the
union campaign.
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The Memphis store is one of nearly 300 Starbucks cafes in the United
States to unionize since late 2021. The company was union-free for
decades.
More than 540 complaints have been filed with the labor board accusing
Starbucks of illegal labor practices such as firing union supporters,
spying on workers and closing stores during labor campaigns.
The company has broadly denied wrongdoing and said it offers employees
competitive wages and benefits and respects their rights under federal
labor law.
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![](../images/050423PIX/busine88.jpg)
Starbucks workers attend a rally as they
go on a one-day strike outside a store in Buffalo, New York, U.S.,
November 17, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario/File Photo
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
Starbucks has argued that the Memphis workers were fired for
violating company safety policies and has said it respects the
unionization process. It said it reinstated them despite disagreeing
with the ruling.
On Thursday, the company will argue that the fact that the Memphis
store ultimately unionized proves the firings did not improperly
erode support for the union.
The labor board says the order was crucial to ensuring that workers
at the Memphis store and at Starbucks locations nationwide can
continue to exercise their rights to organize.
Starbucks and Starbucks Workers United, the union waging the
nationwide campaign, did not respond to requests for comment on
Wednesday.
Starbucks is also appealing a February ruling in a separate case
ordering the company to cease and desist from firing or disciplining
employees at an Ann Arbor, Michigan cafe. The judge in that case
rejected the labor board's claim that Starbucks has implemented a
company-wide anti-union policy.
At the Senate hearing in late March, former Starbucks CEO Howard
Schultz defended himself and the coffee chain against allegations by
Democrats of "union busting" and said the company is ready and
willing to bargain with unions that win elections.
Republicans at the hearing defended Schultz, praising the company's
competitive wages, health benefits, employee stock purchase program
and other benefits.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York, Editing by Alexia
Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)
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