News & Commentary September 29, 2023 Starbucks is found to violate labor law on a national scale

https://onlabor.org/september-29-2023/

By Greg Volynsky

Greg Volynsky is a student at Harvard Law School.

In Today’s News & Commentary, Starbucks is found to violate labor law on a national scale, NYC minimum wage rule for food delivery workers expected to take effect, and Supreme Court to weigh in on transportation exemption to Federal Arbitration Act.

On Thursday, an NLRB judge held that Starbucks violated federal labor law by increasing wages and benefits solely for employees in non-unionized US stores. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Anzalone directed Starbucks to compensate numerous unionized workers for denied wages and benefits. The ALJ held that Starbucks’ decision to grant increases only to non-unionized stores was “aimed to dissuade union organizing”. Judge Anzalone found evidence of unlawful motive in the timing of the wage and benefit increases and Schultz’ “awkward effort” to explain the increases to shareholders: “Schultz’ non-answers were answer enough.” While Starbucks has been found to violate the NLRA more than a dozen times, this ruling represents the first time the coffee chain has been found guilty of breaking the law on a national scale.

Also on Thursday, a judge ruled in favor of New York City’s decision to raise the minimum wages for app-based food delivery workers. The new wage regulation mandates tech companies to pay gig workers roughly $18 per hour, increasing to $20 by 2025. These workers currently earn an average wage of about $11 an hour, per city estimates. The City Council adopted the legislative package in 2021, and the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) published the Final Minimum Pay Rule on June 12, 2023, which was set to go into effect on July 12.

Before the Rule took effect, major food delivery services filed a lawsuit against New York City, as I reported in early July. The lawsuit contended that the new rule lacks a rational basis, claiming it is based on flawed surveys, only compensates workers for on-call time, and overlooks certain consequences the DCPW failed to consider, among other concerns. The platforms argued that the increased wages would compel them to raise prices for consumers, harming local restaurants. Additionally, the platforms argued the wage rule would force them to closely track worker activity, leading to heightened competition among couriers.

FULL story at link above.