Coffee giant Starbucks is caught up in a row with a labor union over claims that workers at some of its stores in the US have been told they cannot put up Pride decorations this year.
The dispute comes as a rightwing backlash against many American businesses sweeps across the US, with conservative activists and consumers attacking expressions of support for LGBTQ+ Americans. Some of the biggest corporate names in the US – such as retailer Target and beer giant Anheuser-Busch – have been hit by boycotts.
It also comes as a wave of legislation has been passed in many Republican-run states eroding the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, especially around the teaching of gay or trans rights issues in schools. According to the Human Rights Campaign, over 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures in the US so far in 2023, a record high, including a record passage of 74 of the bills.
The Starbucks dispute erupted after a petition on Coworker.org, a labor organizing website, was launched in the beginning of June that claimed Starbucks managers have told workers they cannot put up Pride decorations this year.
A Starbucks worker in Virginia at a non-unionized store who started the petition, but requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said they came into work in the beginning of June and noticed all of their store’s Pride and other decorations had been taken down. The petition is directed at their regional manager.
“I was told that they had just implemented a new no-decorations policy. And I was like, ‘Right before Pride?’ That’s really suspicious and kind of weird. I was pretty sure it wasn’t just our store, because our store managers are very supportive of LGBT stuff, most of our employees are LGBT community members, and I was told that it was the regional manager’s decision,” the worker said.
“This is so ridiculous, because it’s just a little quality of life thing that we can do, it doesn’t have any impact on corporate, it doesn’t reduce their profits – even the customers like it. We get a lot of compliments on decorations and lots of our customers are also LGBT community members, and I found that really frustrating and, honestly, pointless.”
The worker criticized Starbucks’s initial denial that Pride decorations were being removed in stores and claimed the company was circumventing the claims by citing the decoration removals weren’t part of any corporate policy change because it was a regional management decision that affected their store.
Starbucks Workers United, the union representing Starbucks workers at more than 300 locations in the US, also posted a thread on Twitter on 13 June claiming that workers in at least 21 states, including at unionized stores, have reported their store management banning Pride decorations.
The union has also pushed back on Starbucks’s denials, citing numerous reports on social media and TikTok videos from workers of the removal of Pride decorations at their stores.
Starbucks has denied any corporate policy changes, claiming it is not aware of any corporate store that has banned decorations related to Pride month. It said it is waiting to hear back from the regional manager mentioned in the petition on what disconnect exists between workers and management on decoration policies.
“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,” said Starbucks spokesperson Andrew Trumbull.
He added: “We’re deeply concerned by false information that is being spread especially as it relates to our inclusive store environments, our company culture and the benefits we offer our partners. Starbucks has a history that includes more than four decades of recognizing and celebrating our diverse partners and customers – including year-round support for the LGBTQIA2+ community.”
The company did not comment directly on the Coworker.org petition.
The worker claimed the decision to remove Pride decorations, especially in light of the recent surge in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, is detrimental to communities that need public support to counter that.
“It feels like they’re unnecessarily kind of falling in line with that, when they don’t have to. I don’t think it would cost them anything. We’re supposed to be a community environment,” they said.
“I’m frustrated that they’re just flat out denying that it’s even happening anywhere. Instead of looking into it and realizing that while they didn’t institute a corporate policy, that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. A regional manager has control over a huge number of stores and if they say ‘no decorations’, and they decide to implement that right before Pride, there’s going to be a response to that and saying that it’s false information is just not true.”
Another Starbucks worker said their store in Maryland also removed all decorations just as Pride month began.
“They took down most of what we had up at the beginning of June and said we can’t decorate for Pride this year or anything else. The store has to look JLP – ‘just like the picture’,” the worker said. “We’ve been asked not make a big deal of it. Many LGBTQIA+ folks work at Starbucks, including myself. The company offers insurance benefits that cover trans-related healthcare, talks a great game about inclusion and community, but now is stopping us from celebrating Pride in at least some stores.”
Starbucks Workers United claimed the new policy differs from previous Pride months when decorations were permitted and aligns with recent policy changes at Target which removed Pride merchandise in response to threats and criticism from far-right anti-LGBTQ+ groups.
