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some regulators Starbucks It will hit stores across the US starting Friday in Seattle after the coffee giant and the union representing its baristas publicly clashed over allegations that the company did not allow Pride Month decor in coffee shops.
The Starbucks United Workers Union said more than 150 stores, representing nearly 3,500 workers, have pledged to join the strikes next week. The union said more than two dozen more stores were voting on permits to strike and the number could rise to nearly 200 by the end of the week.
Last week, the union alleged that dozens of American stores did not allow employees to decorate for Pride Month, accusations that signaled a wave of backlash against LGBTQ+ inclusion reaching a perceived liberal bastion in corporate America. Starbucks said it has not amended its guidelines for store decorations.
“There has been no policy change on this matter, and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including US Pride Month in June,” the company said last week, adding that it steadfastly supports the LGBTQ+ community. Local store leaders and employees can make their decorating decisions within the guidelines set forth in the company’s security and safety manuals.
In response to the strike pledges, the company added, “UW continues to spread false information about our benefits, policies, and negotiation efforts — a tactic apparently used to divide and alienate our partners for their failure to respond to the bargaining sessions of more than 200 stores.”
in Posted on their websiteStarbucks shared a June 14 letter from Vice President of Partner Resources Mae Jensen to Union Labor President Lynn Fox demanding that the union “stop knowingly misleading partners.”
Workers United alleged cases in at least 22 states in which workers were unable to decorate, pointing to social media accounts where workers documented their claims. The union said it had filed an unfair business practice claim against Starbucks over what it alleged was a change in policy. Some strikes in the coming days are linked to this allegation.
Not all stores you’ll hit have issues with Pride decor.
Parker Davis, a 21-year-old barista in San Antonio, Texas, He works at a store that hasn’t had a Pride decor dispute but will be part of the strikes.
“There is a large percentage of associates in my store who are part of the LGBTQ community, and who feel that Starbucks’ continued actions of trying to reduce or remove pride decorations don’t mean anything with what the company has done in the past,” Davis said.
Davis told CNBC that he expects many picketers, but said it was not clear if the store would be open during the strike.
The crowd comes back and forth on the decorations to celebrate Pride Month like the big brands incl Goal And bud light Targeted to support the LGBTQ+ community. In both cases, the companies faced opposition from conservative consumers to partnerships with or selling goods to trans people—and then saw backlash from more liberal customers for perceived deference to the critics.
In Oklahoma, workers were told the restrictions on decking were out of concern for their safety after recent attacks on Target stores, the union said.
Starbucks workers have also gone on strike over allegations that Starbucks has been slow in negotiating contracts.
“Negotiating in good faith seems like both sides are making proposals and trying to meet in the middle – Starbucks is not willing to do that,” the UW said in a statement. “While we have had our non-economic proposals for over 8 months and our economic proposals for over a month now, Starbucks has failed to agree in principle to a single line of one offer or make a single counter-offer. What Starbucks is doing is not compromising, it is slowing down.”
Davis said the strike “is important to me because it sends a message that we will not stand by while Starbucks continues to delay contract negotiations and continues to participate in union busting.”
For its part, Starbucks asserts that the UW has responded to a quarter of the more than 450 negotiation sessions Starbucks has proposed to individual stores nationwide, to date, and said it is committed to making progress in negotiations toward the first contract.
The toaster at which the strikes will begin on Friday not only had a quarrel over Pride garnishes, but solidarity, too.
“The roaster wants to show solidarity with all the workers who have been discriminated against at the company,” Mary Cosgrove, a 28-year-old barista at the Seattle location, told CNBC.
“Honestly, it feels like an attack when those flags are raised,” Cosgrove said. “Partners in these stores really appreciate being able to look and feel like this is their community space. Starbucks is really proud of being third place, including its workers.”
More than 300 company-owned stores have voted to unionize since the first filing took place in August of 2021, but Starbucks and Workers United has yet to agree to the contract.
Starbucks has more than 9,000 company-owned locations in the United States
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.
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