Chipotle may have violated workers’ unionization rights, US labor board says

Chipotle Mexican Grill The company may have violated federal labor law in its treatment of workers at its only unionized store, according to the National Labor Relations Board.

The council said late Monday night that Detroit’s regional director has dismissed the allegations made by the International Brotherhood of TeamstersThe union alleges that Chipotle unlawfully disciplined a worker in Lansing, Michigan, for participating in union activities and that he told the workers the fast food chain could not give them a raise because they were union members.

The regional director dismissed an allegation that Chipotle illegally withheld credit card tips from union members. An allegation that Chipotle illegally used surveillance methods on its workers remains under investigation.

The NLRB said that if Chipotle and the Teamsters do not reach a settlement, the general counsel could file charges against the company, which would then be heard by the board’s administrative law judge.

Employees at Lansing Chipotle voted to unite Two years ago it became the first of the company’s 3,500 locations to do so, as part of a broader union movement across the country.

Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Laurie Schalow said in a statement that Chipotle respects the right of employees to organize and is negotiating in good faith with the Lansing store. Schalow blamed the union for the long delays in scheduling bargaining sessions.

But the Teamsters accused Chipotle in a statement of moving too slowly and retaliating against workers to prevent the union from reaching a fair labor agreement.

“The NLRB made the right decision in finding our claims to be valid,” the union said.

Chipotle has violate labor law for. Last year, the chain agreed to pay $240,000 to former employees in Augusta, Maine. Chipotle closed the Augusta restaurant after workers there petitioned for a union election, a move that the NLRB ruled was illegal.

Chipotle’s employment history may now come under scrutiny after chairman and CEO Brian Niccol was fired. hired by StarbucksNiccol will start working at Starbucks on September 9.

Starbucks was also against unionization when its employees voted for the first time to form a union in a store in Buffalo, New York, in 2022. But since then, more than 460 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize. Starbucks and its union, Workers United, agreed earlier this year to resume negotiations and try to reach an employment agreement.