(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – After the U.S. Supreme Court sided with corporate power over Starbucks Baristas in a direct attack on the fundamental freedom to organize a Union on the job, National AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler released the following statement in response to the U Court’s decision in Starbucks Corp. v. McKinney:

The Supreme Court sided with corporate power over Starbucks Baristas in a direct attack on the fundamental freedom to organize a Union on the job.

The brave Memphis Seven faced harassment, intimidation and termination and appropriately sought intervention from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which fought for an injunction that reinstated the Workers. 

The NLRB exists to resolve labor disputes and ensure Workers can exercise our right to join a Union, free from intimidation and retaliation.

The Board obtained an injunction in Federal District Court to reinstate the Memphis Seven while deciding the case.

The system worked as it is supposed to - until the Supreme Court got involved.

This decision sets a higher threshold for Courts to reinstate Workers who have been unfairly fired.

In a system that is already stacked against Workers, this will make it even harder for them to get back their jobs.

We stand in solidarity with Starbucks Workers United, SEIU and all our Brothers, Sisters and siblings in the Labor Movement as we strive toward a future where all Working People have the power to fight against corporate greed. 

Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported the Supreme Court made it harder for the Federal Government to win court orders when it suspects a company of interfering in Unionization Campaigns in a case that stemmed from a labor dispute with Starbucks.

The Justices tightened the standards for when a Federal Court should issue an order to protect the jobs of Workers during a Union Organizing Campaign.

The Court rejected a rule that some Courts had applied to orders sought by the NLRB in favor of a higher threshold, sought by Starbucks, that must be met in most other fights over Court orders or injunctions.

The NLRB had argued the National Labor Relations Act, the Law that governs the agency, has for more than 75 years allowed Courts to grant temporary injunctions if they find requests “just and proper.”

The agency said the Law doesn’t require it to prove other factors and was intended to limit the role of the courts.

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