The Starbucks Ruling and the Evolving Unionization Landscape
These AccelPro interviews contribute to the conversation on labor organizing and unions
Welcome to AccelPro Employment Law, where we provide expert interviews and coaching to accelerate your professional development.
Last week, the Supreme Court announced its ruling in Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney, ruling in favor of Starbucks. The decision makes it more difficult for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to intervene when a company is believed to have wrongfully suppressed a union organizing campaign and tightened standards for how and when jobs of workers are protected during labor organizing.
With the recent decision, we are revisiting two AccelPro Employment Law interviews that discuss the Starbucks case and union organization:
On Starbucks and the Changing Labor Landscape with Cohen, Weiss’s Cristina Gallo
On Creating a Workplace Immune to Union Organization with Barnes & Thornburg’s David Pryzbylski
Both interviews — previously only available to paying members — are now available to all subscribers.
For related content, explore these AccelPro Collections: Starbucks and Unions.
For access to all AccelPro Employment Law interviews, join our paid membership program.
Most AccelPro members expense their memberships or take a tax deduction. Please let us know if your employer has any questions about our community.
Basic Membership: One full interview each month, along with samples of the weekly podcast and occasional events.
Monthly or Annual Membership:
The weekly podcast, available in the player of your choice
Transcripts and supplemental materials for each interview
Private group events inspired by your requests
Curated collections from the archive, including Worker Classification and Discrimination
CLE credit based on AccelPro interviews is coming soon
If you sign up now, your annual membership will include a free trial and a discount of more than 40%.
I. On Starbucks and the Changing Labor Landscape
With Cristina Gallo, Partner at Cohen, Weiss and Simon
This episode features a conversation with Cristina Gallo, a partner at Cohen, Weiss and Simon about the changing union landscape.
Unions are creeping into new industries, the NLRB is increasingly favoring workers’ rights and some companies are fighting more aggressively once organization efforts start.
Having grown up in a union family and worked as a campaigner before she was a lawyer, Gallo has been in the trenches for much of her life. Today she is outside counsel for Workers United, the union representing Starbucks employees.
In this interview, she explains the changing role of social media in organizing, the strategies Starbucks has used against organizers, and her own personal passion for workers’ rights. The supplemental materials and episode transcript are available below.
II. On Creating a Workplace Immune to Union Organization
With David Pryzbylski, Partner at Barnes and Thornburg
This episode explores best practices for employers hoping to avoid unionization. David Pryzbylski, a partner at Barnes and Thornburg, is a thought leader on labor relations issues.
He says the key for employers hoping to avoid unionization is to forge a workplace with wages, benefits and policies strong enough that employees see no reason to organize.
The workplace landscape has changed, both socially and politically, since the pandemic. The NLRB has adopted more pro-labor positions, and employees have re-evaluated what they want and expect out of their employers. “People appear to be much more interested and open to the idea of unionization post-pandemic than they were pre-pandemic,” he says. “And that’s because of concerns about working conditions.”
AccelPro’s interviews and products accelerate your professional development. Our mission is to improve your day-to-day job performance and make your career goals achievable.
Send your comments and career questions to questions@joinaccelpro.com. You can also call us at 614-642-2235.
If your colleagues in any sector of the employment law field might be interested, please let them know about AccelPro. As our community grows, it grows more useful for its members.