Thousands of Starbucks baristas prepare to strike amid a dispute over Pride decorations

Several thousand Starbucks workers are set to go on strike next week amid a dispute with the coffee giant over it LGBTQ store displays During Pride Month.

The Starbucks Federation of Workers, the group leading efforts to unite Starbucks workers, tweeted Friday that more than 150 stores and 3,500 workers will “strike over the next week” over the company’s “treatment of LGBT workers.”

Workers at Starbucks’ flagship store, a Seattle roaster, went on strike Friday, with dozens of strikes outside.

Earlier this month, the group accused Starbucks of banning Pride Month promotions in some of its stores.

“In unionized stores, where Starbucks claims they can’t make ‘one-sided changes’ without bargaining, the company removed Pride decorations and flags anyway — ignoring the anti-union talking point,” chirp On June 13th.

In a statement provided to CBS News Friday, a Starbucks spokesperson strongly denied the allegations, saying that “United Workers continues to spread false information about our benefits, policies, and negotiation efforts, a tactic apparently used to divide our partners and get away with their failure to respond to bargaining sessions for more than 200 stores.

in letter Posted last week to Workers United, Mae Jensen, Vice President of Partner Resources at Starbucks, expressed her “unwavering support” for the “LGBTQIA2+ community,” adding that “there has been no change to any corporate policy on this matter as we continue to empower retail leaders to Celebrating with their communities including US Pride Month in June.”

Since workers at a Starbucks store in Buffalo, New York, became the first To vote to unionize in late 2021, Starbucks has been accused of illegal attempts to thwart such efforts nationwide. So far, at least 330 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, according to Workers United, but none have reached a collective bargaining agreement with the company.

Judges have ruled that Starbucks repeatedly broke labor laws, including firing and questioning pro-union workers and threatening to strip benefits if employees organized, according to the National Labor Relations Council.

In March, former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz denied the allegations when he was questioned about them during a public Senate hearing.

“These are allegations,” Schultz said. “This will prove incorrect.”

Irina Ivanova and Caitlin O’Kane contributed to this report.