Labor News & Commentary December 4, (NLRB) issued another ruling against Starbucks for anti-union practices

https://onlabor.org/december-4-2024/

By Jacqueline Rayfield. Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s News and Commentary, South Korea’s largest labor union began a general strike calling for the President’s removal, a Wisconsin judge reinstated bargaining rights for the state’s public sector workers, and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued another ruling against Starbucks for anti-union practices.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued a call late Tuesday night for its 1.1 million members to join an indefinite general strike. This action came as a response to South Korea’s president declaring martial law, suspending government functions, and implementing military control over the country.

A Wisconsin Judge on Monday struck down a 2011 law that stripped most of the state’s public sector workers of the right to form a union. The President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO explained that this ruling would restore union freedoms to the state and strengthen the state’s middle class. State Republicans had passed this law after winning control of the state government in 2010.

An NLRB administrative judge in Seattle held yesterday that Starbucks’ holiday parties violated labor law by impermissibly excluding union workers. The judge explained that Starbucks hosted an elaborate ice-skating event for the holiday season with complimentary food and drinks but advertised this event only at non-union Starbucks stores. The judge ordered Starbucks to pay each union worker $40 in compensation for labor discrimination.