Philly Starbucks locations are facing a new labor violations complaint

This story was updated to include a comment from Starbucks.

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a new complaint against Starbucks, based on allegations of union-busting at two Philadelphia locations.

Store managers at the 20th and Market Street location and 34th and Walnut Street location are accused of discouraging employees from forming a union, reducing the hours and wages of union workers without proper notice, and firing two workers for engaging in union activities, according to the NLRB complaint, dated Jan. 23.

Starbucks management has also refused to bargain with the union at these two locations, the complaint alleges.

A spokesperson for Starbucks said the company contends the two stores didn’t violate labor law and that no employees were wrongfully fired.

“We disagree with the merits of the complaint and maintain that actions taken at our Philadelphia area stores were in full alignment with established policies and the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA),” Starbucks said in a statement. “We look forward to a full legal review of the matter as we work to side-by-side with our partners to deliver the Starbucks experience and reinvent our company for the future.”

Alexandra Rosa, one of the employees named in the complaint who was fired from the 20th and Market Starbucks, said in a statement that she feels relief that the NLRB found merit in her case but expressed frustration at the working conditions.

“On the flip side, it’s frustrating that Starbucks, as a corporation, was able to completely destabilize my life and livelihood, and not just me, but many other folks across the country,” she said. “And for what? Because we wanted machines that didn’t cause us 3rd degree burns, or because we wanted to be able to afford rent and food?”

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The two locations mentioned in the new complaint unionized last year, as part of a wave of Starbucks workers organizing in hundreds of stores across the United States.

The company is facing dozens of complaints and alleged violations across the U.S., said organizer Casey Moore, of Starbucks Workers United.

In Philadelphia, the NLRB is aiming to get Starbucks to reinstate the workers who were fired and provide back pay and written apologies.

Starbucks reduced its hours at the 34th and Walnut store from May to September last year, and the NLRB alleges that it was a response to the union’s activities at that store.

This isn’t the first time the Philadelphia office of the NLRB has filed a complaint against Starbucks. In a February 2021 hearing before an administrative law judge, NLRB attorneys argued that the corporation had illegally fired two baristas for labor organizing at its Broad and Washington location. The baristas, TJ Bussiere and Echo Nowakowska, said they turned down a $100,000 settlement to take the case to trial.

The administrative law judge ruled in favor of the NLRB later that year and ordered Starbucks to reinstate the baristas with back pay. That remedy has yet to happen, as Starbucks’ appeal is pending.

“Starbucks isn’t Amazon or Walmart. They claim to be this very progressive company,” Moore said. “As people start to hear about that more, how they’re treating their workers, it could damage their reputation even more.”

Starbucks is expected to respond to the complaint by Feb. 6, and a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 13.

Staff writer Juliana Feliciano Reyes contributed to this article.

The Philadelphia Inquirer is one of more than 20 news organizations producing Broke in Philly, a collaborative reporting project on solutions to poverty and the city’s push toward economic justice. See all of our reporting at brokeinphilly.org.