3,500 Starbucks employees going on strike over Pride Decorations.

[jawatkins]

This is weird. Maybe I’m reading it wrong. The employees want to decorate, the corporation is like alright, the employees strike. Is that right?

 

[hawksurprize]

I would think a union would want to keep it's powder dry for things like pay and benefits disputes or working conditions. Not pride decorations....

Since most of there employees are high school and college kids, I think they will get that in due time.

 

[hawksurprize]

In 2023 there is no need for unions, they are modern horse and buggys. We now have workers comp, minimum wages, OSHA, overtime, child labor laws, etc. All unions do now is complain and worry about office decorations.

Wrong.

 

[gamedayron01]

Explain

Workers have a right to have representation.

 

[Huey Grey]

This is weird. Maybe I’m reading it wrong. The employees want to decorate, the corporation is like alright, the employees strike. Is that right?

These stores aren't allowing decorations. That's where the problem is.

 

[jawatkins]

These stores aren't allowing decorations. That's where the problem is.

Okay. Understandable I was confused by wording in the article

 

[Huey Grey]

Okay. Understandable I was confused by wording in the article

My understanding is that some of these stores used to allow Pride celebration but now that it's a hot button issue they've decided to yank it away.

 

[Aleister_Crowley]

My understanding is that some of these stores used to allow Pride celebration but now that it's a hot button issue they've decided to yank it away.

"Store leaders are able to decorate stores as they wish for Pride and other heritage months, as long as those decorations adhere to safety guidelines, according to the company. Starbucks said it is not aware of any company-owned stores that have banned Pride decorations."

 

[Huey Grey]

"Store leaders are able to decorate stores as they wish for Pride and other heritage months, as long as those decorations adhere to safety guidelines, according to the company. Starbucks said it is not aware of any company-owned stores that have banned Pride decorations."

3,500 workers say they are removing Pride. What's more likely? That 3,500 workers are all lying and willing to risk their jobs over this lie, or that Starbucks, fearing Bud Light profit blowback, decided to take down Pride and give your above statement which is full of wiggle room?

 

[FAUlty Gator]

3,500 workers say they are removing Pride. What's more likely? That 3,500 workers are all lying and willing to risk their jobs over this lie, or that Starbucks, fearing Bud Light profit blowback, decided to take down Pride and give your above statement which is full of wiggle room?

I think it's actually most likely that there is Pride stuff up but not "enough" or certain stuff to their liking. Because I clearly see the Pride Flag in that store. So, what exactly is the complaint?

 

[The Tradition]

I think it's actually most likely that there is Pride stuff up but not "enough" or certain stuff to their liking. Because I clearly see the Pride Flag in that store. So, what exactly is the complaint?

View embedded media

Starbucks workers have a right to go work somewhere else if they don't like how Starbucks treats them.

Going on strike should not be protected. Starbucks should be allowed to lawfully fire them.

 

[TonyTheTiger.1865]

Thing that bothers me is this is likely to only convince companies to try harder at union busting.

Because you are essentially saying that you will use the threat of a strike to overturn all of the policies the company tries to set.

The union acts as though it isn't trying to just get the best deal for it's workers but instead actively wants to control even small details of how a business is run.

What is next the union wants to tell Starbucks how much they should sell lattes for? Maybe the union wants a say in Starbucks next marketing campaign??

Keep your powder dry for what really matters.

This. The Union will eventually destroy Starbucks.

 

[Kinnick.At.Night]

So much knowledge about unions and how they operate from people who've never been dues paying members of one. This forum is great.

 

[abby97]

These stores aren't allowing decorations. That's where the problem is.

Decorations are really something that warrants a massive work stoppage.

 

[abby97]

So much knowledge about unions and how they operate from people who've never been dues paying members of one. This forum is great.

I've worked with them and my father negotiated against them. If you still support them you are a dinosaur.

 

[Twoooooooo]

Not all of them are. Your generalizations suck. If it were not for unions you’d be working 7 days a week.

And if the internet didn’t exist you’d still be tapping your foot in a bathroom stall. Why are you so angry all the time?

 

[gamedayron01]

And if the internet didn’t exist you’d still be tapping your foot in a bathroom stall. Why are you so angry all the time?

Try again with your insult. That one stunk.

 

[ICWestfan]

I’m from a big union family and have seen a lot of strikes and I must say…this is a new one.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/23/business/starbucks-union-pride-strike/index.html

New YorkCNN —
Workers at about 150 unionized Starbucks stores in the United States are going on strike Friday over a dispute about the coffee chain’s policy for Pride decorations in stores.

Starbucks (SBUX) Workers United, the union representing organized stores, has claimed that Starbucks (SBUX) has restricted decorations celebrating Pride month in some locations, demonstrating a “hypocritical treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers.” Starbucks (SBUX) has forcefully denied this claim.

About 3,500 employees “will be on strike over the course of the next week,” Starbucks Workers United posted in a tweet.

Store leaders are able to decorate stores as they wish for Pride and other heritage months, as long as those decorations adhere to safety guidelines, according to the company. Starbucks said it is not aware of any company-owned stores that have banned Pride decorations.

The company also pointed out that many stores have shared their Pride decorations on social media.


“We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. There has been no change to any policy on this matter and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including for US Pride month in June,” a Starbucks spokesperson said, adding, “We’re deeply concerned by false information that is being spread.”

However, the union responded on Twitterthat the company’s “own responses have not been consistent” based on internal documents and testimonies from store managers.

“Starbucks gives autonomy to local leaders to ‘find ways to celebrate.’ These leaders are the same ones issuing many of the Pride bans,” it said pointing to an article that Pride decor was banned from about 100 locations across parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. Those locations are in some of the more conservative regions of a deeply divided United States. Many Starbucks locations across the country have been displaying Pride decorations.

Starbucks Workers United says this is an example of Starbucks bowing to pressure, as Target did when moving or removing Pride merchandise from some stores. Pride has become a political flashpoint this year, with the right attacking companies for celebrating the inclusive celebrations.

But, even if some individual managers have removed their Pride decorations, Starbucks corporate has not changed any merchandising or other policies.

The Seattle-based company has a history of progressive policies for employees dating back to 1988 when it extended full health benefits for same-sex partners. In 2013, it added health coverage for gender reassignment surgery and two years later let employees express themselves with a name or nickname that is “consistent with their gender identity or expression,” according to the company.

Still, Starbucks has generated a reputation of cracking down on unionizing. Starbucks was recently accused of displaying “egregious and widespread misconduct” in its dealings with employees involved in efforts to unionize Buffalo, New York, stores, a National Labor Relations Board judge said in March.

Previous Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had been a vocal opponent of unions.

“I don’t think a union has a place in Starbucks,” Schultz told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. If workers “file for a petition to be unionized, they have a right to do so. But we as a company have a right also to say, we have a different vision that is better,” he said.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

Imagine the painstaking effort you went through to start a union for coffee pourers. You're able to deal and get yourself to a point where you're happy with your pay and benefits. Then a few people in your store aren't happy with only having the big pride flag flying and want more than that and decide THAT'S what you're gonna fight for by striking. Insane.

 

[LetsGoHawks83]

If I'm the CEO.... I'm thinking those coffee making robots can't get here soon enough.