A U.S. labor court ruling found that the Seattle-based coffee giant illegally closed two Ithaca stores last year in an attempt to stifle labor unionism, and a U.S. government agency has ordered Starbucks to reopen the stores.
Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Carter of the National Labor Relations Board ruled Friday that Starbucks “violated the National Labor Relations Act” by “permanently closing its two remaining Ithaca stores for anti-union reasons and refusing to negotiate with the labor coalition.”
The judge said Starbucks must comply with the order by reopening its stores “within a reasonable time.”
The union filed a complaint with the NLRB after Starbucks closed its Ithaca Commons and Meadow Street stores in May 2023.
Last July, the NLRB ordered Starbucks to “immediately” reopen a third Ithaca store that closed in June 2022.
Employees at all three Ithaca stores voted to unionize in April 2022. A few weeks later, Starbucks' local leadership began considering permanently closing the Meadow Street and Ithaca Commons stores, according to the NLRB ruling.
The company had considered closing stores due to high employee turnover and low profitability, but the NLRB said Starbucks had taken into account the “economic losses” during the employee strike as part of its profitability measures.
In his ruling, Judge Carter wrote that Starbucks could present evidence that was not available at the time of the unfair labor practice trial showing that reopening the two stores would create an “undue hardship” for the company.
Starbucks issued a statement following the ruling saying it is “reviewing the administrative law judge's decision regarding actions taken at our two stores in Ithaca, New York.”
“We remain focused on training and supporting managers to ensure our partners' right to organize is respected, and are committed to progressing negotiations towards ratification of store agreements later this year,” the company said.
Last year, the NLRB required Starbucks to reopen 23 stores that labor advocates say were closed in response to workers unionizing.
The stores are spread across several major U.S. cities, including Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered.
The movement helped spark a wave of labor protests by Amazon workers, Hollywood screenwriters and actors, and autoworkers.
Workers at a Starbucks store in Buffalo were the first to form a union in 2021. Since then, workers at hundreds of coffee shops across the country have taken similar action.
Initially, Starbucks refused to negotiate with the union, leading to several strikes.
Federal district judges and an administrative judge for the National Labor Relations Council have issued dozens of rulings clearing Starbucks of unfair labor practices, including delaying negotiations and withholding benefits for union members.
The company sued the union for copyright infringement for using the Starbucks symbol.
Starbucks and Workers United filed competing lawsuits earlier this year after the union posted a social media message declaring “Solidarity with Palestine!” following the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
Starbucks accused the union of infringing on its trademark rights by using the company's name and logo in the post.
