SEATTLE — Coffee giant Starbucks has been accused of illegally closing nearly two dozen stores nationwide -- eight in Western Washington -- to discourage union activities and has since been ordered to reverse the closures.
The National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint accusing the Seattle-based company of unlawfully closing 23 stores across the country.
The federal agency is demanding the company reopen all locations and pay for lost wages.
Mari Cosgrove, a Seattle Starbucks partner, and member of Starbucks Workers United, wrote the following in a statement.
This complaint is the latest confirmation of Starbucks’ determination to illegally oppose workers’ organizing. It adds to the litany of complaints detailed in the company’s 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 union said the following locations across the country were closed and listed within the complaint:
· 2300 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98114 (the “23rd & Jackson” store)
· 6417 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 (the “Roosevelt Square” store)
· 1600 E Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98102 (the “East Olive Way” store)
· 505 5th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104 (the “505 Union Station” store)
· 101 Broadway E, Seattle, Washington 98102 (the “Broadway & Denny” store)
· 400 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 (the “Westlake Center” store)
· 9999 Holman Road NW, Seattle, WA 98117 (the “Holman Road” store)
· 11802 Evergreen Way, Everett, WA 98204 (the “Hwy 99 & Airport Rd” store)
· 8595 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 (the “Santa Monica & Westmount” store)
· 5453 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027 (the “Hollywood & Western” store)
· 120 S Los Angeles St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (the “1st & Los Angeles (Doubletree)” store)
· 6290 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (the “Hollywood & Vine” store)
· 1601 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (the “Ocean Front Walk & Moss” store)
· 232 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (the “2nd & San Pedro” store)
· 1001-1005 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19107 (the “10th & Chestnut” store)
· 401 SW Morrison St, Portland, OR 97204 (the “4th & Morrison” store)
· 10112 NE Halsey St, Portland, OR 97220 (the “Gateway” store)
· 1102 NW Lovejoy St, Portland, OR 97209 (the “Kearney Plaza” store)
· 50 Massachusetts Ave NE, Amtrak Baggage Area, Washington, DC 20002 (the “Union Station Train Concourse” store)
· 302 Nichols Rd, Kansas City, MO 64112 (the “Plaza” store)
· 1455 S Nevada Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80905 (the “Nevada & Brookside” store)
· 1070 W Bryn Mawr Ave, Chicago, IL 60660 (the “Bryn Mawr” store)
· 176 Middle St, Portland, ME 04101 (the “Middle & Exchange” store)
KIRO 7 News reached out to Starbucks about the recent complaint.
“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,” Sara Trilling, executive vice president and president of Starbucks North America, wrote in a statement.
“Each year as a standard course of business, we evaluate the store portfolio to determine where we can best meet our community and customers’ needs. This includes opening new locations, identifying stores in need of investment or renovation, exploring locations where an alternative format is needed, and, in some instances, re-evaluating our footprint,” reads a statement shared by Andrew Trull, spokesperson for the company.
Trull also told KIRO 7 News on the phone that eight of the stores within the complaint are located in Western Washington – seven in Seattle and one in Everett.
He said four of the Seattle locations had been unionized, including the stores located on East Olive Way, Union Station, Broadway East, and Holman Road Northwest.
Union activity had not occurred at 16 of the 23 stores.
Workers who were affected by the closures had been offered opportunities to transfer to other Starbucks locations, Trull said.
Trull said the company is not planning to reopen any stores at this time.
FORMER STARBUCKS WORKER:
KIRO 7 News spoke with Mari Cosgrove, who said she is a former worker at the now-closed Starbucks located within the International District, which was listed within the federal agency’s complaint, to learn more about her experience.
“505 Union was a very loud and proud union store,” she said.
“I knew for the moment I heard my store was being shut down that it was retaliatory.” She added, “This is something that can be incredibly demoralizing to go through. I did lose my community.”
Cosgrove told KIRO 7 News that Trilling’s reason behind the company closures does not match what her regional supervisor had told her and her former colleagues.
“That’s not what I was told,” she said. “It was incredibly frustrating because the reason we were told was that our location was unsafe in the International District. It was far from it. It was your regular neighborhood store.”
The federal agency’s ruling is a step in the right direction, Cosgrove said, adding, “That is one of the major reasons I fight to organize because I want that accountability and transparency.”
Cosgrove said she continues to fight for her and her former colleagues.
“This was a community store that meant a lot to all of us,” she said.
Especially for her former co-workers, she said, who were not able to support themselves, after the company had transferred them to another store.
“Many of us were sent to other stores with guaranteed hours for a certain amount of time. That’s what our union bargained for. They had a hard time finding other jobs.” She added, “For some people, it had ongoing effects, they weren’t able to pay their bills for an extended amount of time.”
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