Federal officials accused Starbucks of labor law violations in a complaint last week.

A store in Clarksville became Indiana’s first, and so far only, Starbucks location to vote for unionization in late July.

In the 30-page complaint, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request, National Labor Relations Board Seattle regional office officials allege the company withheld benefits from the Clarksville store and 261 other locations that had voted to unionize or were considering it across the country. The benefits included faster sick time accrual and enhanced opportunities to gain tips.

For 175 of those stores, the company also withheld a pay raise that it gave non-union stores around Aug. 1. Likely because of the timing of their unionization, the Clarksville location was not among those that had the increase withheld.

The company did that, the complaint claims, in direct response to those stores' unionization efforts and also potentially to “discourage” others from unionizing.

Kathy Hanshew is the midwest manager for Workers United, the union representing Starbucks workers in Clarksville and the region. She is also the union’s international vice president. In an interview, she said the company withholding these wages and benefits did seem to have a chilling effect on unionization efforts in the region’s other Starbucks stores.

“And we've kind of come out the other side now, with this [complaint], we've seen an uptick in those unionization efforts and more incoming...

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