Starbucks Wants Union Vote Delayed in Buffalo

The National Labor Relations Board is scheduled to begin sending ballots to workers at the three stores on Wednesday; they are due back by Dec. 8. Under an October ruling from a regional official of the labor board, the three stores are slated to hold separate elections, meaning that a simple majority at any one of the stores would create a union.

But on Monday, Starbucks appealed the ruling, arguing that the board’s acting regional director erred in not setting up a single election involving all stores in the Buffalo area instead. It asked the N.L.R.B. in Washington to review the decision, and for a stay in mailing out ballots until the board rules. A single, larger election typically favors the employer.

Some workers who attended Mr. Schultz’s talk were confused by a story he told about the Holocaust, in which he noted that only a small portion of prisoners in German concentration camps received blankets but often shared them with fellow prisoners.

“So much of that story is threaded into what we have tried to do at Starbucks is share our blanket,” Mr. Schultz said, according to the transcript.

“Felt like it wasn’t a very appropriate analogy,” said Colin Cochran, a barista and union supporter in Buffalo whose store is not one of the three scheduled to hold an election, in a text message to a reporter.

After Mr. Schultz finished his remarks, a union supporter stood up and urged Starbucks to endorse a set of “fair election principles” that include allowing the union to make its case to workers on company time.

Some in the audience cheered for the worker, while others cheered for an employee who spoke up to criticize the union campaign, video provided by the company shows. Bloomberg reported earlier on the meeting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/08/business/starbucks-union-election.html