Joe Emmenegger, a shift supervisor at an Encinitas Starbucks, filed a second request Oct. 28 asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to let his coworkers vote on whether to remove their union.

Emmenegger first petitioned the NLRB in February to hold a decertification election at the store near Leucadia and Interstate 5. His petition carried signatures from more than 60% of the baristas at the location, according to a National Right to Work Foundation press release. Emmenegger wrote in a USA Today op-ed that the support was "twice the amount required by the National Labor Relations Board." The store has approximately 16 to 18 employees, the New York Post reported.

Region 21 of the NLRB blocked the election after Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) filed what are known as "blocking charges," unproven allegations that, under current NLRB policy, can pause an election. Emmenegger filed his first Request for Review with the full Board in March, arguing the blocking charge policy is inconsistent with federal law.

SBWU then withdrew its original charges. The foundation said the withdrawal suggested the NLRB would have dismissed the claims for lack of merit. SBWU filed a new charge and again requested the election be blocked. Region 21 granted that request Sept. 24.

The foundation's press release does not identify the specific allegations in the union's charges. The New York Post reported in September that it reached out to SBWU for comment on the decertification effort.

Emmenegger's new filing asks the Board to require that blocking letters identify the specific allegations behind a blocking determination, citing NLRB Member Scott Mayer's concurrence in a case called Everon, LLC. The filing also argues the delay constitutes what former NLRB Chairman Marvin Kaplan called "excessive delay" in administering elections, according to the foundation.

The store became the first Starbucks in San Diego County to unionize in May 2023, voting 21-2 to join SBWU, KPBS reported at the time. Workers cited cuts to staff and hours as their motivation.

Emmenegger, 29, told the Post he joined the already-unionized store in 2024. He said he was initially neutral on unions. The tipping point, he said, came during SBWU's open-ended strike that began Nov. 13, 2025, which he said was called without input from him or other workers.

"All of our hours evaporated. Being a week-and-half before Christmas, we had co-workers who have families, have young children," Emmenegger told the Post.

He wrote in his op-ed that the first shift arrived before sunrise only to receive an email saying the store would not open that day.

Emmenegger is receiving free legal representation from the National Right to Work Foundation, a nonprofit that opposes compulsory unionism. He is also a member of the Center for Union Facts Worker Council, which the New York Post described as a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that campaigns against union practices.

National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix said in the Oct. 28 press release that "SBWU union bosses have been allowed to use and abuse the blocking charge system for too long."

The Oct. 28 filing is pending before the Board.