No Pride decorations this year. That's the criticism levelled by some Starbucks employees, which has caused an argument between the coffee giant and a labor union. Initiating the petition was an anonymous worker at a store in Virginia, who said he found the rainbow decorations removed.
Pride decorations removed from (some) Starbucks locations.
"I was told that they had just implemented a new policy of no decorations. That struck me as strange, right before Pride. Our store managers are supporters of the LGBT community, so I thought it wasn't just about us. In fact, I was told that it was the general manager's decision." This was the statement of the Virginia employee, who continued, "A ridiculous decision. Decorations have no impact on the brand, they just add a positive color note, customers like them. We always get a lot of compliments, and so many of our customers are members of the LGBT community, I find it all very senseless and frustrating." Starbucks has denied forcing the removal of the rainbow streamers, but that has not stopped the employee revolt: even the Starbucks Workers United, the union that represents Starbucks workers at more than 300 locations in the United States, said on June 13 on Twitter that the decorations had been banned in at least 21 states, according to employee reports.
Starbucks and support for the LGBT community
For its part, Starbucks says it has no intention of changing its company policies, which have always been very open toward the LGBT community, adding that it is awaiting a response from the regional director of the Virginia coffee shop in question. "We strongly support the LGBT community," said Starbucks spokesman Andrew Trumbull, "and we continue to encourage our store managers to celebrate in their neighborhoods." Employee protests? They are misleading, "We are concerned that this false information is being spread, considering our inclusive corporate culture. We have been providing support to the LGBT community for more than four decades." Another Maryland worker also complained, telling of no longer seeing the typical decorations for the month--whether this is just local decisions not intended by the company? With good probability, yes. The issue is delicate and unclear, but what is certain is that it is hard to believe that a company the size of Starbucks, which has always been attentive to the concept of inclusivity and constantly in step with the times, could have stumbled into such a politically incorrect slip. But we will stay tuned to find out more.
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