Customer takes a stand: Offers back drink to Starbucks after manager removes pride flag from premises

The union Starbucks Workers United is looking into Starbucks’ recent policy change that forbids pride-related decorations.

A union representing hundreds of Starbucks locations said that managers in 21 states had given staff instructions not to decorate for Pride Month. The corporation, on the other hand, refuted this assertion, claiming that it reflected “outlier” decisions made by local authorities that did not reflect corporate policy.

A customer had to return her drink after a Starbucks district manager in a recent video removed a pride banner that had been fastened to the facility. I just came here for that support, so feel free to have my drink. I also won’t be drinking it. When she said, “People were coming here to protest, so when I saw the flag up, I bought a drink, but I would rather not drink it,” she further expressed her disgust.

The Starbucks employees' union expressed its displeasure with the lack of a pride decoration on Twitter. Starbucks subsequently resisted making any changes to their pride decorating policy.

Due to conflicting instructions from the district manager, who has discretion over shop decorations this year, Starbucks outlets followed various strategies. We were asked not to hang any of our Pride flags by order of our district manager, saying it is a company-wide issue, claimed Damon Schnur, an employee at Starbucks in Ohio.

No stores are permitted to carry Pride décor any more since it doesn’t align with Starbucks’ current vision for look, and Pride banners aren’t friendly to everyone and may be hurtful, according to a worker at a Wisconsin outlet who claimed to have received this information from the district manager.

According to the company’s workplace message boards, a few shop managers questioned the pride décor in May and asked for clarification. The staff members were instructed to adhere to the shop display guidelines provided by their market leader.

The workers attacked Starbucks for first denying that the pride displays will be taken down from the outlets. The business asserted that the removal of decorating was a decision made by regional management and not a result of any change in corporate philosophy. The Starbucks representative, Andrew Trumbull, declared, “We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. No policy has changed in this regard, and we still encourage our store managers to participate in community celebrations, including US Pride Month in June.

“We’re deeply concerned by false information that is being spread, particularly as it relates to our inclusive store environments, our corporate culture, and the benefits we provide to our partners,” he continued. The LGBTQIA2+ community is supported year-round by Starbucks, which has a history of more than four decades of recognizing and celebrating its varied partners and consumers.

The union rejected Starbucks’ response and highlighted several accounts of workers bringing up the problem with pride decorations. The new policy, according to Starbucks staff, differs from the previous one during pride month since it allows pride decorations. Starbucks has adopted a similar stance as Target, which withdrew pride-related products in response to complaints and threats made by extreme anti-LGBTQ+ organizations.