US orders Starbucks to reopen 2 New York stores company shut down after workers unionized

A US agency has ordered Starbucks to reopen two stores in Ithaca, NY after a labor judge ruled that the Seattle-based coffee giant illegally shut down the locations last year in order to “chill unionism.”

Geoffrey Carter, an administrative law judge with the National Labor Relations Board, ruled on Friday that Starbucks “violated the National Labor Relations Act” by “permanently closing its two remaining stores in Ithaca … for antiunion reasons” while “failing and refusing to bargain with Workers United.”

Starbucks must comply with the order by reopening the locations “within a reasonable period of time,” according to the judge.

The union filed a complaint with the NLRB after Starbucks shuttered the Ithaca Commons and Meadow Street stores in May 2023.

In July of last year, the NLRB ordered Starbucks to “immediately” reopen a third location in Ithaca that was closed in June of 2022.

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In April 2022, workers at all three Ithaca locations voted to unionize. Weeks later, Starbucks regional leadership began considering the permanent closures of the Meadow Street and Ithaca Commons locations, according to the NLRB ruling.

The company mulled shuttering the stores due to high turnover and low profitability metrics, but the NLRB said that Starbucks factored in “economic losses” during employee strikes as part of the profitability metrics.

Carter wrote in his ruling that Starbucks will be allowed to present evidence that was unavailable at the time of the unfair labor practice trial that would demonstrate reopening the two locations would be “unduly burdensome” to the company.

Starbucks released a statement in response to the ruling, saying: “We are reviewing the administrative law judge’ decision regarding actions at two stores in Ithaca, NY.”

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“Our focus continues to be on training and supporting our managers to ensure respect of our partners’ rights to organize and on progressing negotiations towards ratified store contracts this year,” the company said.

Last year, the NLRB called on Starbucks to reopen 23 stores that labor advocates say were shuttered in response to workers unionizing.

The locations spanned multiple major US cities, including Chicago, Portland, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle, where Starbucks is headquartered, among others.

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The campaign helped kick off a wave of labor protests by Amazon workers, Hollywood writers and actors and auto workers.

In 2021, Starbucks workers at a Buffalo location became the first to unionize. Since then, employees at hundreds of other coffee houses nationwide have done the same.

Initially, Starbucks refused to negotiate with Workers United, prompting several work stoppages.

Federal district judges and NLRB administrative judges issued dozens of decisions finding unfair labor practices by Starbucks, including delaying negotiations and withholding benefits from unionized workers.

The company filed suit against the union accusing it of copyright infringement by using the Starbucks symbol

Earlier this year, Starbucks and Workers United filed competing lawsuits after the union posted messages on social media declaring “Solidarity with Palestine!” in the wake of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack by Hamas.

Starbucks accused the union of trademark infringement by using the company’s name and logo in its postings.

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