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In the summer and fall of 2022, Starbucks announced the shuttering of three Portland locations, saying crime and mental health incidents had made the coffee shops too dangerous to operate. The closures were the first in a series from giant retailers as they bailed out on a city struggling with drugs, homelessness and violence.
Fast-forward to this month, when federal labor regulators demanded a judge compel Starbucks to reopen 23 shops it has closed nationwide. In a Dec. 13 complaint, a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board alleged Starbucks closed the shops in an effort to discourage a national union drive that started in Buffalo, N.Y., in 2021.
Among the 23 shops federal regulators listed in the complaint were all three Portland locations that Starbucks closed in 2022.
“This complaint is the latest confirmation of Starbucks’ determination to illegally oppose workers’ organizing,” Mari Cosgrove, a member of Starbucks Workers United, said in a statement to WW. “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.”
Related: In 2022, we spent 48 hours at two of the stores Starbucks planned to close.
The complaint is hardly dispositive. Indeed, Starbucks says it filed a response to regulators this week, although it could not immediately locate a copy for WW to review. But the Seattle coffee giant’s position has been outlined in previous filings, where it argues that the allegation of union-busting is incoherent, given that only one of the three Portland shops had seen labor organizing before it closed.
“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, in a statement.
An administrative law judge will rule on the case by next summer, and Starbucks representatives indicated to WW that the company will fight the allegations in court.
While the Dec. 13 complaint received national coverage, including in The New York Times, in Portland it was reported only by KGW-TV. Media attention has largely moved on from the shuttered Starbucks to other retailer discontents, including the September announcement by Target that it would close three of its Portland locations due to shoplifting and threats to its workers’ safety.