Starbucks’ challenge to the National Labor Relations Board’s demand to reinstate fired union organizers is the first appeals test of the agency’s power.
The coffee company is expected to present oral arguments in front of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Thursday to override a previous ruling that made Starbucks rehire a group of union organizers known as the Memphis Seven.
The company’s argument is simple: Since the union won the election, firing the organizers had no impact on union support.
The NLRB countered that firings often have a chilling effect on union organizing.
“Contrary to Starbucks’ claim, the fact that a majority of employees were willing to anonymously vote for the union in the secret ballot election and the employees are not attempting to bargain does not undercut the district court’s conclusion that interim relief is warranted,” the NLRB wrote to the court.
The case in question arose when Starbucks fired seven workers from a Memphis, Tennessee, location in January 2022 after they appeared on a local news program promoting the store’s union drive. The company said the workers had an unauthorized, after-hours meeting with the news organization.
The NLRB filed a formal complaint in April 2022, accusing the company of firing the workers in retaliation for forming a union. One month later the store won its union victory, picking Starbucks Workers United as its union.
A U.S. District judge ruled in August that the workers should be reinstated. Starbucks complied and rehired six of the seven employees and appealed the ruling. That appeal will be heard this week.
The appeal comes during a battle between the regulatory agency and Starbucks. Since the popularization of the Starbucks union drive in 2021, the NLRB has issued dozens of complaints against the company for labor violations, most of which are in the early stages of litigation.
The agency has petitioned six times for a federal injunction on Starbucks. The agency has won twice and lost once, with the remaining injunctions pending.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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