Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Powerful Labor Tool in Starbucks Case. Credit | GETTY IMAGES
United States: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments – not concerning whether Starbucks unlawfully hampered the union drive, but whether the lower court’s decision to order Starbucks to rehire Escobar and his co-workers during the investigation into the discharges, was in error.
The justices have even more questions in front of them – the underlying order and the decision to grant it are at the core of the issues that will be heard by nine justices.
Their verdict may be a harbinger of the future to come of labor unions in the whole territory of the United States and basically in each individual industry, ranging from the field of automotive engineering through retailing to academia and many other fields where labor unions can be established.
About the important tool
The order, which is known as the 10(j) injunction, is considered the most powerful tool, with the help of which the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) makes orders and enforces the law. Moreover, as per the NPR News reports, it is one of the few tools that the agency has at its disposal.
Created by Congress in 1935, the NLRB was given the task of protecting workers’ rights. Such rights involve tasks such as the formation of unions and unanimously looking for a better working environment for themselves.
However, Congress did not give the power to labor agencies to penalize other companies for violating their rights.
Although if the NLRB thinks certain things have been done unfairly, the district court may have to stop anything that is currently happening while the labor official gathers evidence, holds a hearing, and makes a decision.
What more happened in Starbuck’s case?
Following a probatory into Memphis firings, the NLRB proceeded to the next level by filing a federal court judgment. The appeal to the court was granted and it instructed Starbucks to refrain from interfering with their workers’ union activities and to reinstate temporarily the Memphis 7.
Sharon Block, a Harvard Law School professor and former NLRB board member, said, “To sort of stop the bleeding,” as the NPR News reported.
Additionally, Block said that it’s critical, as it could take months or even more than that for the NLRB to process cases.
He stated, “Life moves on,” and, “The organizing campaign may be dead by the time the board issues a decision because everybody got freaked out by the lead union organizers getting fired.”
