The company has faced widespread charges of “union-busting” and retaliating against pro-union workers, including alleged unlawful terminations. Workers United, the union representing the organized Starbucks locations, says the company fired 55th and Woodlawn employee Jasper Booth-Hodges last week in retaliation for his efforts to unionize that coffee shop.
Earlier this week, the NLRB regional director overseeing Chicago accused Starbucks of breaking labor law by “prohibiting pro-union face masks and T-shirts, interrogating staff, telling employees unionization would be futile, and threatening them with the loss of raises and benefits if they organized,” as Bloomberg first reported Tuesday.