Current:Home > InvestStarbucks versus the union: Supreme Court poised to back company over 'Memphis 7' union workers-LoTradeCoin
Starbucks versus the union: Supreme Court poised to back company over 'Memphis 7' union workers
View Date:2024-12-23 19:25:59
WASHINGTON − The Supreme Court on Tuesday seemed ready to make it harder for workers to get help when they think a company is trying to unfairly stop workers from unionizing.
In a labor battle that began when the Starbucks mega chain fired seven employees at a Memphis coffee shop in 2022, the company seemed to have the upper hand during oral arguments before a conservative supermajority at the Supreme Court.
A majority of justices appeared to want to make it harder for judges to force companies to rehire workers who think they have been improperly fired. That would be a setback for the labor movement at a time when it is winning high-profile victories, like the landmark unionization at Volkswagen in Tennessee last week.
"In all sorts of alphabet soup agencies, we don't do this," said Justice Neil Gorsuch, referring to the National Labor Relations Board and its role in regulating union battles with companies. "District courts apply the 'likelihood of success' test as we normally conceive it. So why is this particular statutory regime different than so many others?"
Austin Raynor, the Justice Department lawyer representing the NLRB, said Congress set a limited role for courts because lawmakers didn’t want “wide-ranging district court involvement in labor disputes.”
Prep for the polls: See who is running for president and compare where they stand on key issues in our Voter Guide
“We’re not disputing that it is a check,” he said. “The only question is to what extent it should be a check.”
Coming upThe miscarriage was inevitable. Could she have had an ER abortion? Supreme Court to decide
The court’s focus on labor unions, whose power in the workplace had dwindled for decades after peaking in the 1950s, comes amid an aggressive push by President Joe Biden to revive the role unions. Unions have seen big victories recently in the auto industry, in organizing of health-care workers, and in regaining popularity among workers.
Starbucks union fight began in Buffalo
The Supreme Court was asked to weigh in by Starbucks which has been battling with unions since workers in Buffalo, N.Y., voted to organize a shop in 2021.
In the firing of the Tennessee Starbucks workers who become known in union lore at the 'Memphis 7,' a group of baristas and supervisors claimed they were sacked as retaliation for trying to organize a union. The union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, the government agency that monitors union and company relations.
Starbucks said the workers were fired for violating company rules, including when they invited a news crew into a closed coffee shop without authorization.
A district judge ordered Starbucks to rehire the workers while the charges are being adjudicated.
Starbucks argues judges too often defer to the NLRB and the Supreme Court should require a standard that takes more factors into account.
“They should have to prove their case like any other party,” Lisa Blatt, who represented Starbucks, told the Supreme Court.
'Not sounding like a huge problem'
Blatt got the most pushback from Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who repeatedly emphasized that the court intervention process was set up by Congress, so it has a different function than a typical court injunction.
Jackson also noted that the NLRB receives an average of 20,000 complaints of unfair labor charges each year but asked the court to intervene only seven times last year.
“This is not sounding like a huge problem,” Jackson said.
No matter how often the court intervenes, Starbucks’ attorney said, there should be a “level playing field.”
The NRLB may decide soon whether all the actions Starbucks took in Memphis that a court ordered them to reverse were, in fact, improper. If the board does so before the Supreme Court decides the case, that would make the court invention that Starbucks is challenging no longer an issue.
If that happens, the government will argue the Supreme Court should not decide this case, which would prevent a ruling that would apply to all future cases.
veryGood! (59)
Related
- Kentucky officer reprimanded for firing non-lethal rounds in 2020 protests under investigation again
- Claudia Oshry Reveals How Ozempic Caused Hair Loss Issues
- 1 dead,14 injured after driver crashes into New Mexico store
- Kelly Clarkson mistakes her song for a Christina Aguilera hit in a game with Anne Hathaway
- Florida Man Arrested for Cold Case Double Murder Almost 50 Years Later
- Ex-Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel has been threatened with jail time in his divorce case
- ‘A step back in time': America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways
- Jersey Shore's Pauly D Shares Rare Update on Life With 10-Year-Old Daughter Amabella
- Get $103 Worth of Tatcha Skincare for $43.98 + 70% Off Flash Deals on Elemis, Josie Maran & More
- At least 9 dead, dozens treated in Texas capital after unusual spike in overdoses
Ranking
- Trump's election has women swearing off sex with men. It's called the 4B movement.
- Florida Says No to Federal Funding Aimed at Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Former students of the for-profit Art Institutes are approved for $6 billion in loan cancellation
- Jersey Shore's Pauly D Shares Rare Update on Life With 10-Year-Old Daughter Amabella
- Joey Graziadei Details Why Kelsey Anderson Took a Break From Social Media
- Why Olivia Culpo Dissolved Her Lip Fillers Ahead of Her Wedding to Christian McCaffrey
- Elon Musk says Tesla aims to introduce a $25,000 model in 2025
- Lawsuit against Meta asks if Facebook users have right to control their feeds using external tools
Recommendation
-
Joey Graziadei Details Why Kelsey Anderson Took a Break From Social Media
-
300 arrested in Columbia, City College protests; violence erupts at UCLA: Live updates
-
‘A step back in time': America’s Catholic Church sees an immense shift toward the old ways
-
Ex-NFL player Emmanuel Acho and actor Noa Tishby team up for Uncomfortable Conversations with a Jew to tackle antisemitism
-
Shocked South Carolina woman walks into bathroom only to find python behind toilet
-
Kentucky Derby's legendary races never get old: seven to watch again and again
-
Trump’s comparison of student protests to Jan. 6 is part of effort to downplay Capitol attack
-
Walnuts sold at Whole Foods and other grocers recalled after E. coli outbreak sickens 12