Supreme Court May Rule for Starbucks in Labor Organizing Dispute

The coffeehouse chain is fighting a lower court order forcing it to rehire labor organizers whom Starbucks claims violated company policy.

A Starbucks worker boards the Starbucks union bus after workers stood on the picket line with striking actors and writers in solidarity outside Netflix studios in Los Angeles on July 28, 2023. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Supreme Court seemed sympathetic on April 23 to a request by Starbucks to rein in the National Labor Relations Board’s authority to decide if fired union activists in Tennessee should get their jobs back.

Labor activists argue that such a pro-management ruling could discourage union organizing.