Joyce Goldstein, a Labor and Employee Benefits Lawyer at Joyce Goldstein & Associates, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss how changes at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) helped some Starbucks employees successfully organize.
On Monday, the NLRB certified a union victory for a second Starbucks location after employees successfully voted to unionize in December. There are about a dozen Starbucks stores where employees want to join a union, including one in Ohio. Goldstein said the success Starbucks employees had unionizing created a domino effect that inspired other Starbucks employees to unionize. This is why the company vehemently opposed unions, she added.
The NLRB instituted numerous changes to encourage successful organizing, Goldstein said. It has sped up election cases by not granting extensions and maintaining strict deadlines. Any election delay benefits employers by giving them time to sow doubt in employees, she explained. The NLRB also allowed Starbucks employees to hold elections in individual stores, rather than regionally.
Goldstein also spoke about the possibility the NLRB will toss out three Trump-era decisions involving CVS, ExxonMobil and Marathon Petroleum because a Republican board member failed to disclose certain investments.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.