B.C. Labour Relations Board finds Starbucks made threats against pro-union employee

VANCOUVER — The B.C. Labour Relations Board has found Starbucks wrongfully made “threats of adverse consequences” against an employee for her unionization activity, but found the company had a “legitimate business reason” to close down its only unionized location in Vancouver.

The United Steelworkers Local 2009 made a complaint of unfair labour practice against Starbucks Coffee Canada in 2023 for closing the Dunbar Street store less than a year after its workers had been unionized, and for disciplining an employee for “wearing a union T-shirt.”

The board’s decision dated Feb. 11, says Starbucks denied closing the coffee shop over “anti-union animus” because the company was already considering shutting at the time the union had applied for certification as the lease was expiring and the building was too small.

The union had claimed the “objective impact” of closing the Dunbar store “was to dissuade others from unionizing,” but the board rejected the argument, saying Starbucks had a “legitimate” reason to shut it down.

United steelworkers spokesman Scott Lunny said they accept that part of the board’s decision, but the union still believes the company “didn’t have the intention to close the store until after they knew about the union and that had some influence on the decision.”

“What’s done is done, and the board didn’t see it that way,” he said. “We’ll just move on.”

Starbucks Coffee Canada spokeswoman Mary Franssen said in an emailed statement that the company was “pleased” that the board found the Dunbar store closure was legitimate and that the decision was “made without regard to union status.”

“Starbucks applies the same focus to evaluate, modify or close both union-represented and non-union stores based on our ability to provide the Starbucks experience to both our customers and partners (employees),” the statement said.

The second part of the union’s complaint involved an employee at a Starbucks in Langley, B.C., who had been threatened with discipline for wearing a shirt with a union logo and the slogan “I Support Our Bargaining Team” in October 2023.

The complaint alleged a manager told the employee things would get “messy” for her if she continued her union activities.

The employee claimed the manager warned her that “she did not know what she was getting herself into,” telling her there was a “bigger picture” and her union activity “wouldn’t look great” before telling her to “find a way out before it gets worse.”

“On their face, the … statements are anti-union in nature,” the board’s ruling says, adding they were intended to “compel” the employee to cease being involved with the union.

The board found Starbucks breached the code by making threats and using “coercion or intimidation” to try to dissuade the employee from continuing her union activities.

The board declared that Starbucks breached two sections of the labour code for using coercion or intimidation, and for using threats of a penalty against an employee over her union activities.

The board ordered Starbucks to “cease and desist from continuing any of the conduct found to be in breach of the code,” and ordered the company to post a copy of the board decision “in a conspicuous location” at two of its coffee shops in Langley and Surrey, B.C.

Lunny said they take the decision as “progress,” but the penalties faced by companies that breach the labour code aren’t “steep.”

“They’re not injurious enough to the employer to be a deterrent to prevent them (from) doing it in the future,” he said.

Starbucks Canada’s statement said it respects the board’s ruling “and the company will comply with the requirements of the decision.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2025.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press