U.N. experts press Starbucks over alleged union-busting campaign

U.N. human-rights experts pressed Starbucks and the U.S. government to respond to allegations that the coffee giant has run a years-long campaign against workers trying to unionize, a step that pushes the fight well past a routine labor dispute and into international scrutiny.

The letter, made public this week, said the experts had received information alleging “ongoing and widespread” threats, harassment and intimidation against Starbucks employees involved in union activity since 2021. It also said the allegations raised possible violations of the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association under international law. In several U.S. states, the complaints included cases in which police were called on workers taking part in picketing, leafleting and other protest activity.

The appeal came from four independent experts appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council, including the special rapporteurs on peaceful assembly and free expression and the U.N. working group on business and human rights. For restaurant employers, that matters because a union campaign that once would have been fought through NLRB filings and board elections is now being framed as a broader workplace-rights dispute, with reputational risk spreading far beyond one store or one city.

Starbucks said it was “actively engaging with the union in good faith” and had put forward a collective-bargaining proposal. The company also said its proposal built on its “already competitive pay and industry-leading benefits,” including healthcare and college for eligible employees. Jaci Anderson, a Starbucks spokesperson, said the union had been engaging in publicity-driven stunts and limited bargaining.

The conflict began in December 2021, when workers at a Buffalo, New York, Starbucks became the company’s first U.S. store to unionize. Since then, Starbucks Workers United has said it has won elections at nearly 700 locations. Recent reporting placed the group at about 600 company-owned U.S. stores, roughly 6% of Starbucks’ company-owned locations, representing more than 9,000 workers.

Even after those wins, the labor fight still had not produced a ratified first contract at any U.S. Starbucks store. CNBC reported that Starbucks and Workers United last held formal negotiations in December 2024, with Starbucks proposing to resume in-person bargaining on March 30 and remain available through April. Workers United sent a comprehensive contract proposal on March 13, 2026, seeking 4% annual wage increases and stronger protections around discrimination, unjust firings, store closures and scheduling.

For restaurant operators watching their own union drives, the Starbucks case shows the downside of letting a labor fight drag on: staffing becomes harder, disputes become more public, and the legal risk can keep widening long after the first election is over.