Starbucks Union Accuses Company Of Taking Down Pride Month Decorations

Starbucks has long portrayed itself as a queer-friendly workplace. on your own website, the company touts its benefits for transgender employees, its long-standing support for marriage equality, and its willingness to raise the rainbow flag at its Seattle headquarters. The Human Rights Campaign calls it one of the following: The best workplaces for LGBTQ+ equality. However, members of Starbucks’ labor union, SB Workers United, said that Starbucks prevented employees from displaying pride decorations, and some managers actively removed those decorations. claims to be.

In a statement to Eater, SB Workers United said it confirmed workers in 21 states were told they could not be awarded the medal because of pride. “In Massachusetts, some workers were told they couldn’t decorate because they didn’t have enough ‘work hours’ to ask their partners to decorate,” the statement said. “In Georgia, workers were told He argued that having workers climb the ladder was for safety reasons, and that workers could not display their pride because they deviated from the “siren core pattern”. ” I posted a video on TikTokperhaps the pride decorations removed from the shop windows and above the milk and sugar bars.

Starbucks said there are no directives banning Pride decorations. Starbucks spokesman Andrew Tulu told Eater, “There is no change in our policy on this issue and we continue to encourage store leaders to celebrate with their communities, including during U.S. Pride Month in June.” .

“Historically, it has always been policy to allow pride decoration,” the union says. workers are worried The company, like other big brands, is bowing to increasing pressure from anti-LGBTQ activists. The union started a petition Demanded that regional operations manager Bridget Herbert allow store partners to decorate their Pride.

Trull also clarified that despite a long-standing company policy to keep windows unobstructed, the company has issued no new guidance on pride displays, adding that some store actually have Pride is displayed. “For Starbucks, U.S. Pride Month in June is just one more moment to support and celebrate our LGBTQIA2+ partners and communities. .” Starbucks too Posted on website Guidance remains unchanged: “We will continue to encourage retail leaders to work with their store teams to find ways to truly celebrate with their communities all year round.”

When asked whether the manager was able to interpret the safety policy and conclude that: Any Pride decorating would be a safety hazard, Trull said, although he couldn’t rule out the possibility that someone interpreted the policy that way, “It’s consistent with the instructions we give our stores and store leaders.” I won’t,” he said.

Starbucks employee Amanda Rivera said she felt things were certainly different this year, despite the company’s claims. Rivera is a shift supervisor at . Ansley Mall location in Atlanta, and said that in her 11 years working for the company, employees have been encouraged to dress for the pride they see fit. But Rivera said she blamed Starbucks’ anti-union behavior for the high turnover rate at her store recently, and said the new managers didn’t say anything about pride. “My previous store manager would buy me decorations and give me time to put them up,” she said, noting that managers often pay staff to come in specifically for the decorations. point out that there was (When asked about staff retention, Trull pointed to records from Starbucks’ May earnings call to Eater, in which CEO Laxman Narasimhan said barista turnover was expected to hit a high in March 2022. It said it was down more than 9% from its “high”.)

“Most of them were just pride flags, but for the better part of the decade there were five or six hanging from the ceiling. And this is the first time they haven’t even mentioned it.” she says. “I haven’t seen any decorations,” Rivera said, because store managers were told by the company that they “didn’t want to decorate their stores with anything they sent to them.” And while she understands that unobstructed windows are a safety issue, the decor was never there. She said, “We have enough empty wall space, [it] A flag would be nice. ”

Another shift supervisor at Ansley Mall, Tyler, who declined to give his last name, confirmed employees were told they couldn’t pick up last year’s decorations. “We were told directly by the store manager, who worked for the company, that we were not allowed to have anything that was not approved by the company.” Eater could not reach the store’s manager for comment.

Oklahoma City’s 63rd Grand Location barista Alisha Humphrey claims three Union stores in the city have been told not to decorate for pride. “The district manager told our store manager that this was a corporate change that Starbucks made last July,” she said, because Starbucks wanted uniformity in its stores. It is said that it was But she says she’s heard various reasons from workers around the country as to why managers don’t allow decorations. “It’s very frustrating that Starbucks still sells Pride cups and aggressively promotes itself as an inclusive Pride company.”

SBWU also shared a photo of a partially redacted document purported to be from Starbucks’ Oklahoma store manager, telling employees, “This decision is.” [regarding decorations for Pride] “Last year, it was created at the regional level for consistency between stores,” said an A-frame sign that read, “Slightly embellished.”

Asked for comment on the memo provided by the union, Starbucks said in a statement: “We are investigating individual issues to ensure all our stores follow our long-standing guidelines, which will allow us to provide guidance to our partners and local communities. It allows people to express their support for different cultural heritage months,” he said. The company said that “each of our store leaders will keep their stores open during Tradition Months, including Pride Month, within the store safety guidelines we have established” and “within the Sirens Eye appearance guidelines and partner dress code policies.” is authorized to adorn the Starbucks said it will provide further guidance on in-store displays in the coming months.

“If Starbucks is a true ally, they will stand up for us, especially at a time when LGBTQ+ people are under attack,” SBWU said on Twitter. “No company that cares will turn its back on the LGBTQ+ community to defend its already astronomical interests.”

This year, there has been a heightened awareness of corporate pride displays following tougher anti-LGBTQ laws and a violent backlash against the most docile corporate support. Target has removed a number of LGBTQ-friendly products from its stores He then allegedly received threats against workers.Even after deleting those items, the target received a bomb threat.and bud light continues She is facing a boycott after sending several cans of beer to trans actress and influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Instead, buyers are: Replace Bud Light with Modelo — share the same parent company.

“The decoration was a display of identity pride and a defiance of prejudice,” said Starbucks employee Matt Cartwright. said in a statement liberated by trade unions. “Just as Starbucks rejects democracy by stifling employee unionization, it betrays its gay employees, turns them against them, and puts meanness and greed ahead of their partners. ing.”