The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is seeking to clamp down on CEO speech that’s deemed threatening to union supporters, ruling that former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by telling a pro-union worker that she could go work somewhere else if she was unhappy at Starbucks.

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Former CEO’s Remark to Employee

Schultz, who was interim CEO of Starbucks at the time, broke federal labor law in 2022 by telling a California barista who was a union supporter that “if you’re not happy at Starbucks, you can go work for another company,” according to the NLRB. A decision from the board said that Schultz’s statement was an unlawful, coercive threat.

(CNN)

Starbucks’ Reaction to Decision

In a statement provided by a spokesperson, Starbucks said it disagreed with the board’s decision.

“Our focus continues to be on training and supporting our managers to ensure respect of our partners’ rights to organize and continuing to make progress in our discussions with Workers United,” Starbucks said. Workers United is the union organizing the company’s workers. The NLRB’s decision can be appealed to a federal appeals court.

Workers at 500 Starbucks locations in the U.S. have voted to unionize since late 2021. Starbucks has faced allegations of illegal union-busting from workers, labor groups, and Democratic lawmakers, all of which it has denied.

(Reuters)

Schultz Has Denied...

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