Amid a contentious and rapidly spreading effort to organize Starbucks coffee shops around the country, workers at locations in the Chicago area and Peoria say the company has violated federal labor law and targeted pro-union employees.The allegations come in eight unfair labor practice cases pending before the National Labor Relations Board and filed between March and July of this year.
One of the claims about company conduct at a Logan Square Starbucks where a union vote eventually failed says the company “ in surveillance of known union supporters.” “As we have said previously, we believe these claims are false and will be prepared to defend our case,” a Starbucks spokesperson told WTTW News.
Nationwide, nearly 200 locations have voted to unionize since last fall, and have faced significant anti-organizing efforts from Starbucks management.