Last Updated on June 25, 2023, 10:59 AM | Published: June 25, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City Starbucks [SBUX] workers went on strike early in the morning on Sunday at the 36th and May [SBUX] store.
They were striking for pride decorations to be brought back in store, and to bring the corporation back to the bargaining table to negotiate a contract in good faith.
The strike drew over 30 workers and supporters in solidarity for pride representation and a fair contract.
Free Press spoke to Collin Pollitt, union member with OKC Starbucks Workers United and worker at 23rd and Robinson store.
“We’re bargaining for changes to the Pride decoration policy, which was not a rule before, and has not been negotiated with the union,” said Pollitt.
Success
The region responsible for the pride bans has been “Area 120”. Area 120 is made up of over 100 [SBUX] stores across Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas. But thanks to a savvy social media campaign, Area 120 now allows pride decorations.
“We are happy to report, though, that despite the company saying no changes to policies happened, we provided proof that this change did happen for our area 120. As soon as that information went viral we were told we could hang up pride flags again. That is a union win for all of Area 120”, Pollitt said.
The main issue the workers are concerned about is that the unilateral change to pride decorations were not bargained for in negotiations. The union has filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) complaint in response to the banning of pride decorations.
Neha Cremin, a worker at the 36th and May store, also commented on the strike.
“Basically, all of our stores were told that we couldn’t put pride decorations up,” Cremin told us. “They ended up reversing the decision after public outrage, but that was like a week before pride month was over.”
“Not just that, but also [SBUX] union-busting — how they’ve been denying us benefits like credit card tipping — they also made changes to how our trans healthcare plan works, so people are paying more for that,” Cremin added.
Asked about why pride decorations in stores are an important part of the worker experience, she said, “A lot of the workers at [SBUX] are queer or trans. Basically, almost every single person who works at our store [36th and May] is a member of the LGBT community.”
Inclusion
Free Press also spoke to a supporter of the workers, Tim Mauk. He said, “It’s mostly about inclusion. A lot of things, or a lot of places, don’t necessarily care about gay people or trans people. So really it’s important for all businesses to recognize that members of LGBT have been historically persecuted. There stories have gone unnoticed, crimes against them have been unheard.”
“All members of the working class need to show solidarity with each other,” Mauk said.
If gay rights, trans rights, queer rights are trampled upon, then what is to say further down the line more and more other labor violations against other people won’t happen?”
Why?
Wren Rice is a [SBUX] worker at the 36th and May store. He also shared his perspective with Free Press.
“[SBUX] has always had a foundation of being pro-LGBT, and having healthcare provided for these members,” Rice said. “I know a lot of people who specifically work here to get trans healthcare and hormones. With a company having such a hard foundation, and most of its employees being a part of that community, I think it’s important that they represent that.”
Asked why Starbucks has been so resistant to pride decorations, Rice added, “I think that a lot of it comes from the fear of union stores popping up. They’ve seen that we’re stronger together, and stronger as a united front. As a store who’s mostly LGBT, they fear that kind of strength in numbers, and they are joining some other companies such as Target, and other things that have taken down pride decorations to protect themselves.”
The battle between workers and [SBUX] has become viral amidst a strong campaign by the union to highlight the changes made by the corporation. Read more about that here:
The union’s new unfair labor practice (ULP) complaint against [SBUX] over pride decorations joins a long list of other ULPs brought against the corporation by workers.
[SBUX] is facing over 99 NLRB complaints, 1900 pending federal labor law violations nationwide.
Alex Gatley covers labor activities in the state of Oklahoma.
