KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The National Labor Relations Board found Starbucks unlawfully closed 23 union and non-union stores, including the popular store on the Country Club Plaza.
The NLRB is trying to order the company to reopen the stores and to pay workers lost wages and other costs, according to a news release supporting Starbucks workers.
"The complaint is the latest confirmation of Starbucks' determination to illegally oppose worker's organizing," said Mari Cosgrove, a member of Starbucks Workers United and a Starbucks partner in Seattle. "It adds to the litany of complaints detailed in the company's own report released this morning. If Starbucks is sincere in its overtures in recent days to forge a different relationship with its partners, this is exactly the kind of illegal behavior it needs to stop."
The Country Club Plaza location closed on Aug. 22, 2022.
"In support of our Reinvention Plan, and as part of our ongoing efforts to transform our store portfolio, we continue to open, close and evolve our stores as we assess, reposition and strengthen our store portfolio,” said Sara Trilling, executive vice president and president of Starbucks North America
Josh Crowell, a former employee, talked to KSHB 41 at the Plaza store after it closed.
Crowell said the explanation employees were given about the store's closing were safety and security concerns.
A statement from Starbucks said the Plaza location was never represented by Workers United and that partners at the store never petitioned for union representation.
Starbucks also said there was no known organizing activity at the store prior to the company deciding to close it.
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