House Republicans Investigate Federal Labor Agency, aligning with Starbucks
On Wednesday, House Republicans issued a subpoena to the National Labor Relations Board, claiming that its officials were involved in misconduct during union elections that involved Starbucks Corp.
The Chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., wrote a letter to the federal labor agency on Wednesday, referring to a letter sent by Starbucks to NLRB officials in August. The letter alleged that the officials were involved in “substantial misconduct” related to an election between the company and Workers United at a store in Kansas.
Foxx said she believes that an NLRB report last month “confirmed certain allegations” detailed in the letter from Starbucks.
The report shows NLRB officials “shared substantially more information” about the election with Workers United than Starbucks, Fox wrote, adding that the hearing officer “found the disparity so great that it ‘casts doubts as to the fairness of the conduct of this election.'”
The news was first reported by Wall Street Journal.
Foxx requested that the NLRB provide communication and documents related to the matter to the committee on March 29, her office confirmed to NBC News.
The deadline is the same day Howard Schultz, who recently stepped down as Starbucks’ interim chief executive, is set to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, chaired by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Sanders, who’s pro-labor, is probing dozens of allegations that Starbucks breached federal labor law as well as other complaints against the company under Schultz’ leadership.
The company has fought back, defending itself from the allegations and filing counter complaints against the unions.
The NLRB and Starbucks Corp. and Starbucks Workers United did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
More than 250 of Starbucks’ thousands of company-run stores in the U.S. have voted to unionize since late 2021, and the company has opposed these efforts.
As part of a lengthy unionization campaign, Starbucks’ workers across 100 stores planned a three-day strike in December