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The
complaint to the International Labour Organization (ILO), a U.N.
workers' rights watchdog in Geneva, relies on the same set of
standards that Starbucks shareholders used in March, when they
approved a proposal for an independent review of the company's
labor practices.
Critics say the company's firing of activists and closing of
unionized stores violate ILO principles, which Starbucks
explicitly agreed to follow in its 2020 Global Human Rights
Statement.
Employees at more than 300 U.S. corporate-owned Starbucks
locations have voted to unionize since late 2021, but none have
yet struck a deal for working conditions and wages.
Since late April, three Starbucks locations in New York have
asked to vote on whether to kick the union out of their stores.
The company has denied retaliating against organizers, accused
federal labor officials of improper conduct and says it respects
workers' rights to organize but prefers direct relations with
employees.
Starbucks said in a statement that the National Labor Relations
Act provides due process "if deployed appropriately."
"Starbucks has a decades-long record of demonstrating its
commitment to all partners in the United States and elsewhere,"
it said.
It "has not created excessive delays in the organizing process
as alleged" and "in the vast majority of elections, Starbucks
has accepted the will of the voting partners and has sought to
engage in good faith in person collective bargaining
negotiations," it said.
It also said that Workers United, the union representing
baristas, has confirmed only 23% of the bargaining sessions
proposed by the company.
In Thursday's complaint against the United States, unions claim
that U.S. laws and enforcement mechanisms are "woefully
inadequate to deal with a big, powerful employer determined to
crush union organizing."
The Service Employees International Union, its affiliate Workers
United and the AFL-CIO claim the United States lacks speedy ways
to decide labor disputes as required under ILO standards,
allowing Starbucks to exploit "excessive delays to frustrate
organizing and bargaining rights."
The complaint requests an "on-the-spot mission" to interview
Starbucks management, workers, union staffers and government
officials.
(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Richard Chang and Chizu
Nomiyama)
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