Labor board officials allege Starbucks worker in Wilmette was fired for supporting union

Starbucks violated labor law by firing a pro-union worker at a North Shore cafe, local labor board officials allege in a complaint filed Monday.

The complaint alleges an employee at the coffee giant’s location at 3232 Lake Ave. in Wilmette was fired for attempting to form a union. Chicago labor board officials allege the firing was an effort by Starbucks to discourage pro-union activity among its employees.

The employee “engaged in concerted activities with other employees for the purposes of collective bargaining and other mutual aid and protection” — and was terminated for doing so, the complaint alleges.

The complaint also alleges Starbucks interrogated workers at the Wilmette store about their union sympathies and the union activities of their co-workers.

Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trull said the company denies it fired the Wilmette employee for union activity.

“No Starbucks employee has been or will be disciplined or separated for supporting, organizing or otherwise engaging in lawful union activity,” Trull said. “All partners have the right to make their voice heard when it comes to union issues.”

Though baristas at about a dozen area Starbucks have filed for union elections since the start of the year, workers at the Wilmette store have not filed for a union election, according to a representative from Starbucks Workers United, the Service Employees International Union affiliate that represents the Starbucks workers.

The original unfair labor practice charge in the Wilmette case was filed by an individual, not the Starbucks union, in mid-June. The complaint issued this week means local officials from the National Labor Relations Board found merit to the individual’s allegations against Starbucks.

The case will now go to trial at the NLRB; a hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled in January.

In a statement, Starbucks Workers United said it had no knowledge of the matter described in the complaint but supported the Wilmette Starbucks workers.

“We are very much in support of these Starbucks partners. Should these workers reach out to us we will gladly see what we can do to assist them,” a union representative said in a statement.

Starbucks Workers United alleges the company has fired more than 120 pro-union workers across the country during its national organizing campaign, and the union says it has filed unfair labor practice charges on behalf of 80 of those individuals.

Nationally, the labor relations board’s regional offices have issued more than 30 complaints alleging a range of labor law violations by the company.

This summer, labor board officials issued complaints against Starbucks at three Chicago stores alleging labor law violations, including illegally threatening employees with loss of benefits and wage increases for organizing; interrogating employees about the union; forbidding employees from wearing pro-union apparel; threatening loss of pay and changes to their working conditions; and telling workers that organizing was futile.

Labor board officials also alleged Starbucks disciplined an employee at a Hyde Park store for testifying to the labor board at a representation hearing. That worker was fired two weeks after Chicago labor officials issued the complaint. He and Starbucks Workers United said he was targeted for his role leading the union push in Hyde Park, an allegation Starbucks denied at the time.

The complaints filed this summer cover alleged labor law violations at three Chicago Starbucks: the store at 1174 E. 55th St. in Hyde Park, which unionized in June; the store at 1070 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. in Edgewater, which unionized in May; and the store at 2543 N. California Ave. in Palmer Square, where employees voted against unionizing in June.

On Friday, Starbucks said it was closing the unionized Edgewater store named in one of the complaints, citing “ongoing safety issues impacting customers and partners.” Workers United blasted the decision as “blatant illegal union-busting activity.”

A hearing before an administrative law judge over the complaints issued this summer is scheduled in November.

Trull did not comment specifically this week on those complaints but said Starbucks would “continue to respect the right of all partners to make their decisions regarding union issues, whether they favor or oppose representation,” and that it would bargain with the union in good faith where required.

In the Chicago area, workers at a total of seven stores across Edgewater, Edgewater Beach, Bucktown, Hyde Park, West Rogers Park and suburban Cary have unionized this year.

The unionized Chicago stores are discussing dates for collective bargaining sessions with Starbucks attorneys, said Carlos Ginard, assistant manager with the Chicago and Midwest Regional Joint Board of Workers United, the SEIU affiliate that represents the Starbucks workers.