Protesters with Starbucks pass through the historic intersection of Hollywood and Highland during the annual Pride Parade in Los Angeles, June 12, 2022.
David Macnew | Getty Images
Strikes in an organized US Starbucks stores opened Friday in Seattle, after the coffee giant and the union representing baristas publicly clashed over claims the company was not allowing Pride month decorations in cafes.
The union, Starbucks Workers United, said more than 150 stores, representing nearly 3,500 workers, have pledged to join the strikes, which will take place over the next week. More than two dozen other stores are voting on strike permits and the count could rise to nearly 200 stores by the end of the week, the union said.
Last week, the union alleged that dozens of stores across the US were not allowing employees to decorate for Pride month. Starbucks said it had not revised its store decoration guidelines.
“We want to be crystal clear: Starbucks has been and will continue to be at the forefront of supporting the LGBTQIA2+ community, and we will not waver in that commitment!” Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan and Executive Vice President and President for North America Sara Trilling said in a statement Friday.
“Despite today’s public commentary, there has been no change in our policies regarding our inclusive store environments, our corporate culture and the benefits we provide to our partners. We continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities, including for US Pride month in June, as we have always done,” they added. The executives said they have “a strong disapproval of any individual or group attempting to use our partners’ cultural and heritage celebrations to harm or grossly misrepresent disseminate information for self-interest”.
In response to the strike pledges, the company previously said: “Workers United continues to spread false information about our benefits, policies and negotiation efforts – a tactic used to seemingly divide and deflect our partners from their failure to respond on negotiation sessions during more than 200 stores.”
In a post on his websiteStarbucks shared a June 14 letter from its VP of Partner Resources, May Jensen, to Workers United president Lynne Fox demanding the union “stop knowingly deceiving partners.”
Protesters in Seattle join a Starbucks Workers United strike over what the union says is a policy change regarding Pride decoration in stores. Starbucks claims it has not changed its policy and encourages stores to celebrate within company security and safety guidelines, while the union alleges workers in 22 states where employees have been unable to decorate.
Robert Weller | CNBC
Workers United has alleged cases in at least 22 states where workers were unable to decorate, pointing to social media accounts where workers have documented their claims. The union said it has filed an unfair labor practice suit against Starbucks over what it believes has changed policies. Some of the strikes in the coming days are related to that claim.
Not all stores that will strike had problems with the Pride decor.
Parker Davis, a 21-year-old barista in San Antonio, Texas, works in a store that has not had a dispute over the Pride establishment, but will be part of the strikes.
“There is a large percentage of affiliates in my store who are part of the LGBTQ community who feel that Starbucks’ continued actions to try to limit or remove pride decorations just don’t make sense with what the company has done in the past. .” said Davis.
Davis told CNBC he expects several picketers, but said it was unclear if the store would be able to open during the strike.
The public back and forth over decorations to celebrate Pride month comes as major brands including Goal And bud light are focused on supporting the LGBTQ+ community. In both cases, the companies faced opposition from conservative consumers to transgender partnerships or merchandise — and then saw backlash from more liberal customers for perceived deference to the critics.
In Oklahoma, workers were told restrictions on decorating were out of security concerns following recent attacks on Target stores, the union said.
Protesters in Seattle join a Starbucks Workers United strike over what the union says is a policy change regarding Pride decoration in stores. Starbucks claims it has not changed its policy and is encouraging stores to celebrate within company security and safety guidelines, while the union alleges workers in 22 states where workers were unable to decorate.
Robert Weller | CNBC
Starbucks employees are also on strike over claims the coffee chain is slow to negotiate contracts.
“Good faith negotiations appear to have both sides proposing and trying to meet in the middle – Starbucks is not willing to do that,” Workers United said in a statement. “Despite having our non-economic proposals for over 8 months and our economic proposals for over a month now, Starbucks has failed to tentatively agree to a single line of a single proposal or make a single counter-proposal What Starbucks is doing is not negotiating, it’s getting stuck.”
The strike “is important to me because it sends the message that we are not standing idly by as Starbucks continues to delay contract negotiations and continue to participate in union break-ups,” Davis said.
Starbucks, for its part, claims Workers United has responded to only a quarter of the more than 450 negotiation sessions Starbucks has proposed so far for individual stores nationally, saying it is committed to continuing negotiations on an initial contract .
Protesters in Seattle join a Starbucks Workers United strike over what the union says is a policy change regarding Pride decorations in stores. Starbucks claims it has not changed its policy and is encouraging stores to celebrate within company security and safety guidelines, while the union alleges workers in 22 states where workers were unable to decorate.
Robert Weller | CNBC
The distillery where the strikes started on Friday has not had a fight over Pride decorations, but is also striking out of solidarity. About two dozen union workers protested outside the store during the day. The location was closed after it opened briefly, a Starbucks spokesperson said.
“The roastery wants to show solidarity with all employees who have been discriminated against in the company,” Mari Cosgrove, a 28-year-old barista at the Seattle location, told CNBC.
“Frankly, it feels like an attack when these flags are taken down,” Cosgrove said. “The partners in these stores really appreciate being able to be seen and feel like this is a community space for them. Starbucks is really proud to be third place, including for its employees.”
Since the initial filing in August 2021, more than 300 company-owned stores have voted to join the union, but Starbucks and Workers United have yet to agree on a contract.
Starbucks has more than 9,000 of its own locations in the US
– CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.