Feds want Starbucks to reopen 6 LA County stores after they were illegally closed

Starbucks could be forced to reopen six Los Angeles locations that it closed last summer, with federal regulators alleging the stores were shuttered to suppress unionization efforts by employees.  

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint Wednesday questioning the closures of 23 Starbucks stores nationwide, saying that workers at more than a half-dozen of those locations had already voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United.

Starbucks has said that the six Los Angeles-area stores listed in the Complaint were not represented by Workers United and were never known to have engaged in organizing activity.

The matter is expected to go before an administrative law judge sometime next year, according to The New York Times.

Workers at more than 350 corporate-run Starbucks locations nationally have voted to unionize. Members of Starbucks Workers United say the closures reflect the company's determination to illegally oppose workers' organizing.

Starbucks said they believe the allegations lack merit, and the company will defend its lawful business decisions as store openings and closures happen regularly for a  variety of reasons. In the fiscal year 2022, Starbucks opened 437 new stores and closed 116 stores across the nation, of which approximately 3% were represented. 

"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 said.   

The closures of the six LA stores included in the complaint were announced by the company last summer. Starbucks says the closures were due to safety concerns at the locations.

Starbucks issued a statement saying they respect employees' rights "to organize, freely associate, engage in lawful union activities and bargain collectively without fear of reprisal or retaliation."

The LA store locations referenced in the complaint are:

•  Santa Monica Boulevard and Westmount Drive in West Hollywood;
•  Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue;
•  First and Los Angeles streets in downtown Los Angeles;
•  Hollywood and Vine Street;
•  Ocean Front Walk and Moss Avenue in Santa Monica; and
•  Second and San Pedro streets downtown.