Labor board accuses Starbucks of pay disparity

By DEE-ANN DURBIN
AP Business Writer

The National Labor Relations Board says Starbucks is violating U.S. labor law by withholding pay hikes and other benefits from stores that have voted to unionize. The labor board’s Seattle office filed the complaint late Wednesday. Starbucks offered $200 million in enhanced pay and benefits — including increased training — to non-union stores in May. The company says those benefits must be subject to bargaining at unionized stores. But the NLRB complaint says Starbucks is interfering with workers’ right to organize by making the offer. More than 220 U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since late last year.