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The National Labor Relations Board filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday claiming that Starbucks retaliated against unionizing workers at the chain’s store in Great Neck.
The suit alleges that workers trying to unionize at the Great Neck Starbucks were threatened by management with loss of income, loss of opportunities for promotion, loss of holiday time and benefits. The store’s lead organizer, Joselyn Chuquillanqui, was fired in July and the lawsuit comes after the NLRB found cause in several charges of unfair labor practices that the union filed against Starbucks at the Great Neck location.
Workers at the Great Neck Starbucks unanimously filed for a union on February 10, 2022, with all of the employees at the time signing union cards, according to a statement from Starbucks Workers United. The store lost its union election in a five to six vote on May 3 and the union immediately filed objections to the election results.
“We deserve the right to unionize our workplaces and to have safe working conditions without dealing with fear and retaliation,” Chuquillanqui said in the statement. “I am glad the NLRB was able to file this lawsuit and that this is going to court because we need to send the message that Starbucks cannot continue their union busting. It proves that what they did to me actually happened and Starbucks can’t just erase it because they want to.”
There are now more than 260 unionized Starbucks locations around the country, including four on Long Island. None currently have a contract.
The union movement for Starbucks workers began with a successful vote at a store in Buffalo in Dec. 2021. The Starbucks union is an affiliate of Philadelphia-based Workers United.
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Image and article originally from libn.com. Read the original article here.