Starbucks The United Starbucks Workers union hit back at the union representing baristas at hundreds of stores on Monday, filing charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that dozens of Starbucks United Workers stores were not allowed to have Pride month decorations.
The allegations came after employees at some Starbucks stores began protesting on Friday in response to the allegations. More than 150 stores across the country have pledged to strike on behalf of nearly 3,500 workers, the workers’ union said.Starbucks has more than 9,000 self-operated cafes in the United States
The union alleges that managers in at least 22 states told baristas they couldn’t decorate for Pride month in June, or that pride flags were taken down. The company said its decorating policy has not changed.
In the NLRB’s complaint against the union on Monday, Starbucks said “the union and its agents engaged in a defamation campaign that included knowingly making false statements to Starbucks partners.”
“The union’s violations have sparked workplace tensions and divisions and triggered strikes and other business disruptions at Starbucks stores,” Starbucks said in the filing. “The union’s illegal activities include, but are not limited to, knowingly making false statements, including Malicious and reckless misrepresentation of Starbucks’ longstanding support for Pride Month and its store decorations. The union knowingly and falsely states that Starbucks has banned all Pride Month decorations from its stores.”
In a second filing with the NLRB, responding to the union’s description of LGBTQ+ employee benefits, the coffee giant said: “Starbucks continues to provide its partners with industry-leading gender-affirming care benefits. The union knowingly and falsely stated that Starbucks Removed or changed benefit coverage for its LGBTQIA2+ partners.”
The union said it had brought the charges itself in response to allegations that the store had been banned from renovations. The company said part of the strike was related to those allegations and claims that Starbucks had stalled in labor negotiations.
The first Starbucks store will be unionized in December 2021, and more than 300 stores have voted to unionize so far. But the two sides have yet to sign a contract for either store. Starbucks insisted that the workers union responded to only a quarter of the more than 450 negotiating meetings Starbucks proposed for individual stores across the country, and said it was committed to advancing negotiations on the first contract.
The union said Starbucks was stalling contract negotiations. On Friday, it said, “While we have had our non-economic proposals for more than eight months and our economic proposals for more than a month, Starbucks has not been able to tentatively agree to any line of the single proposal nor to provide A single counterproposal.”
Starbucks “failed to bargain in good faith” and “eliminated” or “banned” Oklahoma City organized stores without notice, according to the latest NLRB filing from the Starbucks Workers United proud decoration in the United States and “refused to haggle with unions” over the move and its implications. It also said the company refused to “provide information related to haggling,” allegedly to discourage employees from placing decorations.
The workers’ union said it was confident Starbucks’ allegations would be dismissed, calling them “a public relations stunt designed to distract attention from Starbucks’ own actions.”
“Every allegation Starbucks has made against our union has been dismissed by the National Labor Relations Board for lack of merit. … Focus on what Starbucks does, not what it says,” the union said in a statement.
“While attacking unions that represent their own workers, Starbucks has now changed its policy in response to workers’ actions. If Starbucks really wanted to be an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, they would actually be listening to queer workers across the negotiating table in good faith Negotiate,” the Starbucks Workers United added.
Starbucks took the extra step Monday to communicate to employees that its store decoration policy has not changed. Managers are given safety and security guidance and can make decisions within that framework.
Starbucks said it has and will continue to encourage stores to celebrate Heritage Month with partners like Pride.
“I want to reiterate that none of our policies have changed as it pertains to our inclusive store environment, our company culture and the benefits we offer our partners. To further emphasize this, we intend to issue clearer focused guidance guidelines, Starbucks North America executive vice president Sara Trilling said in a letter to Starbucks North America: Partners sent on Monday. “No one can take away our heritage and our commitment to being us. An ongoing commitment to a place where all people belong. “
Trilling said: “Throughout our journey, we’ve heard from our partners that you want to be creative in the way we display our stores and that you see visual creativity in stores as an integral part of who we are and our culture. part.” “Similarly, we also learned through partner channels that current guidelines around visual presentation and decoration need clarity and consistency.”
In response to Trilling’s news, Oklahoma City National Workers Leader Alisha Humphrey said in a statement to CNBC: “We are delighted that Starbucks is closing as a result of the national strike. Consider this a major victory in our fight. Hold Starbucks accountable.”
“However, at my store, when we were told that pride decorations were not allowed, there was a noticeable change in policy, and I was fed up with this company’s gaslighting. Also, our strike wasn’t just about pride decorations,” said Humphrey Lay added. “This walkout is about the fact that my colleagues and I voted for unions, and despite the law requiring Starbucks to bargain with us, they refused to do so. It’s about Starbucks threatening benefits, intimidating us, and making us feel ‘in our own workplaces’. unwelcome. Our union hasn’t compromised Starbucks heritage — it’s all Starbucks’ doing. ”
The clash over proud decor in Starbucks stores comes as states across the country have passed a flurry of laws targeting LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender Americans. Conservative consumers have resisted the inclusion or marketing of transgender people by brands like Bud Light and Target.
The union’s allegations point to a backlash against Starbucks, which has long been hailed as a liberal bastion in corporate America and touts its health benefits for LGBTQ+ workers.
— CNBC’s Amelia Lucas contributed to this report.
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