Erik Forman

Starbucks has repeatedly violated labor laws in its Twin Cities stores, the National Labor Relations Board has determined. The federal agency’s Minneapolis office recently ruled that 16 charges, filed by a Starbucks employee at the Mall of America, have merit.

About a dozen former and current Starbucks workers gathered outside the coffee chain’s outlet at the intersection of Nicollet and Franklin Avenues on Thursday morning. They carried placards that read “Justice for Baristas” and “Starbucks Workers Union,” circling the sidewalk in the single-digit temperatures. “Starbucks Union here to stay,” they chanted. “These lates are union made.” The event coincided with the filing of 11 labor violation charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board.