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Starbucks workers at more than 150 stores plan to strike starting Friday, alleging that workers at dozens of locations were restricted in putting up Pride decorations, a claim the company has denied.
“Starbucks is scared of the power that their queer partners hold, and they should be,” Moe Mills, a shift supervisor from Richmond Heights, Mo., said in a statement.
Starbucks Workers United said the week-long walkout involving more than 3,000 workers will begin Friday, starting at the company’s flagship store in Seattle. The union alleges the Pride decoration episodes are only the latest instances of retaliation against workers, including blocking workers’ access to benefits and the firing of an employee.
In a statement to The Washington Post, Starbucks spokeswoman Rachel Wall accused the union spreading false information and called the strike a “tactic used to seemingly divide our partners.”
“We apologize to our customers who may experience an inconvenience at these locations,” she added.
Last week, the union accused regional-level Starbucks leaders and store managers of blocking workers from putting up Pride flags and other decor honoring LGBTQ+ rights. The organization cited workers saying they had been prohibited or limited in putting up decorations, as well as texts and a memo appearing to show managers saying there had been regional guidance to make stores adhere to a more “consistent experience.” The communications could not be independently verified by The Post.
The union says it is not alleging that such actions were a result of a “corporate top-down national policy,” but added in a statement to The Post that it is “very hard to believe that corporate was unaware” of the actions because the purported instances of it happening were so widespread.
Lexi Rizzo fought to unionize her Starbucks.
Starbucks has vehemently denied the allegations, saying that for decades it has supported LGBTQ+ workers through policies such as “gender transition guidelines” and adding gender reassignment surgery to the company’s health benefits. Moreover, Wall said that the company has long had a policy of empowering “partner celebrations and recognition of a variety of heritage months.”
Asked whether the store managers and regional leaders could have been acting independently from corporate guidance, Wall responded: “As for in-store displays, partners and store leadership continue to find ways to authentically celebrate with their diverse communities year-round within our safety standards, signage policies and dress code.”
“All reported partner concerns on this matter are being taken seriously and are routed for leadership review and to be addressed,” she added in an email.
Starbucks and the workers fighting to unionize have been locked in a battle — one that pushed company’s founder and former chief executive, Howard Schultz, to testify about his company’s alleged union busting in front of a congressional panel in March. Schultz denied being involved in decisions to terminate or discipline union organizers, while saying he had not taken part in closing unionized stores.
That testimony came only weeks after a federal administrative law judge found that Starbucks committed “egregious and widespread” violations of federal labor law through efforts to halt union campaigns.
Source link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/23/starbucks-workers-pride-strike/