Starbucks asks for nationwide halt of mail-in union votes, alleging misconduct in Overland Park

Starbucks accuses labor board officials and the union of exploiting weaknesses in the mail-in ballot system to unfairly influence a vote over unionizing a store in Overland Park, Kansas, earlier this year.
Starbucks is accusing National Labor Relations Board employees of secretly coordinated with union organizers in the Kansas City area — and it wants the agency to halt all mail-in votes nationwide until a full investigation has been conducted. But labor organizers immediately called the move an extension of a broader anti-union campaign.

The allegation is at the center of a 16-page letter Starbucks attorneys sent on Monday to NLRB Chairman Lauren McFerran and the agency's general counsel.

In the letter, which Starbucks shared with NPR, the company accuses NLRB personnel and the union of exploiting weaknesses in the mail-in ballot system to unfairly influence a vote over unionizing a store in Overland Park, Kansas, earlier this year.