Barista Alendra 'Len' Harris -- image via screenshot
In a huge victory for US Starbucks workers and for the Starbucks Workers United union drive, American National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) federal administrative Judge Ira Sandron has found that a Colorado Starbucks worker was illegally fired for organizing a union, and has ordered the company to not only rehire her, but issue her back pay and a letter of apology.
Barista Alendra 'Len' Harris was one of the leaders of a successful drive to unionize a location in Superior, Colorado in April, 2022. After that she was fired in November, 2022 in what the judge has ruled was an unjust case of retaliation.
Nearly 400 Starbucks locations have unionized in the US though the company has refused to sign an agreement with any of its unionized workers.
In March, 2023 a NLRB judge ruled the company had violated labor laws "hundreds of times" in its efforts to prevent locations from unionizing.
Of her victory Harris said "My win says really clearly that, yes, it may take a while. But you can and will win, and we can do it together and it's worth it in the end."