Starbucks Corp. baristas at more than 150 stores plan to strike over the next week in support of LGBTQ workers.
(Bloomberg) — Starbucks Corp. baristas at more than 150 stores plan to strike over the next week in support of LGBTQ workers.
The strike will involve more than 3,000 baristas, Starbucks Workers United said in a statement Friday. It follows the union’s allegations that store employees across the US were told to remove LGBTQ-themed decorations, which the group called “the latest in Starbucks’s retaliation against workers.” Other companies, including Target Corp., have been criticized over their stance on Pride.
“Their choice to align themselves with other corporations that have withdrawn their ‘support’ of the queer community in the time we need it most shows that they are not the inclusive company they promote themselves to be,” Moe Mills, a shift supervisor at a Missouri store, said in the statement.
In an emailed statement Friday, the Seattle-based company said that the union’s claims were inaccurate and that it respects employees’ rights to engage in lawful union activities. Last week, the company denied claims that it banned Pride decorations, saying it “unwaveringly” supports the LGBTQ community.
“Workers United continues to spread false information about our benefits, policies and negotiation efforts — a tactic used to seemingly divide our partners and deflect from their failure to respond to bargaining sessions for more than 200 stores,” Starbucks spokesperson Rachel Wall said in the statement.
Regional National Labor Relations Board directors around the country have issued over 90 complaints accusing the company of illegal anti-union tactics, including refusing to negotiate fairly with the union, while judges and NLRB members have ordered reinstatement of 23 terminated activists.
Starbucks said it would try to staff stores where workers walk out with baristas from nearby locations looking for additional hours. The coffee chain has about 9,000 company-owned stores in the US.
Starbucks shares were down 1.7% in premarket trading at 9:19 a.m. in New York. The stock is up 1.7% this year through Thursday, trailing the 11% rise of the S&P 500 restaurants index.
–With assistance from Josh Eidelson.
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