When a business puts Woke/SJW/Virtue Signaling above wise business practices, they shouldn’t be surprised when it turns around and bites them in the posterior
Starbucks strike over Pride decor follows LGBTQ anger on hours, benefits
Workers at dozens of U.S. Starbucks locations held strikes on Sunday to express their outrage over accusations by the baristas’ union that managers at several U.S. cafes removed rainbow flags and decorations supporting LGBTQ+ Pride month.
About a dozen Starbucks workers picketed outside New York’s Astor Place location in lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon near the route of the city’s Pride parade, chanting: “New York is a union town! On strike! Shut it down!”
Union members handed out flyers and talked to passersby about the action, while several customers chose not to enter in support of the strike.
With Pride marches underway in New York City, San Francisco, Chicago and Starbucks’ hometown Seattle, some baristas and other workers at the coffee chain said they were angered by the dispute.
A spokesperson said on Sunday that “we unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. It would be inaccurate to report that Starbucks stores are banning any decorations as there has been no change to company policy on this matter.”
But, at the end of the day, they are a business. Their job is to sell coffee and all the other weird stuff they have. That’s it. They made a mistake when they said anyone could use the bathrooms even if they didn’t purchase anything. And then had tons of homeless making the stores filthy and leaving drug needles all over. They bought into BLM, and then it hurt their business, so they banned it (and most political stuff), and caught a load of crap. They allowed the rainbow alphabet folks to have stuff up for a bit, and that hurt business, and now they are taking crap from their employees. It’s one thing to do some good, have some charitable endeavors, be responsible, but, eventually it crosses the line and blows up a smooth running organization.
Though the conflict is gaining attention now, it began brewing a year ago, when the Workers United union said the company threatened union organizers – many of whom say they are queer or trans – with reduced hours that would leave them unable to qualify for health insurance, which covers gender reassignment surgery and other affirming procedures.
Starbucks has denied that it changed the coverage, calling the accusations “false claims” in a June 14 letter to Workers United International President Lynne Fox and seen by Reuters.
Sounds like a shakedown of a generous company.
“Once we decided to unionize, they were like, we’ve had enough of this progressive stuff,” said Jackie Zhou, 21, a shift supervisor at a New York City Starbucks at Astor Place, where workers held a strike on Sunday.
Someone finally realize it had went too far.
Sam Cornetta, a barista at the Farmingville, New York, Starbucks, who joined coworkers on strike at Astor Place on Sunday, said the company was alienating LGBTQ+ workers.
“They’ve used their claim to be a progressive, inclusive company to kind of attract those kinds of people,” Cornetta, 23, said. “There’s a performative aspect.”
Expect Starbucks stores to be a lot more cautious in who they hire in the future, which will mean the militants will slowly attrit away.
The problem with LTBTQIA+ and BLM is that they are not communities that need to be supported. They are political action arms of the Democratic party.
Managers do radical things like track sales, profit, and loss. If managers were seeing downturns in sales during particular promotions, they’d obviously consider ending the promotions.
Is this the Bud Light boycott, writ small? Has Starbucks been selling more or less coffee during ‘Pride Month’, or perhaps just about the same?
I cannot say that I have deliberately bypassed any particular business because they had a ‘Pride Month’ display, but, then again, businesses in the sensible part of Kentucky don’t put up that kind of stuff in the first place.
Having been in the restaurant/bar business for a 37 year career I can address this topic with some authority.
During that entire period of time I never endorsed the political candidate publicly nor did I put anything of a political or personal nature in my windows in my store or in any way that my personal opinions it reflected in my business. I would no more support gay pride in my businesses then put crucifixes around my dining room.
It’s called the hospitality business for a reason, be hospitable! And one cannot be hospitable if one is being divisive. I personally would never eat or drink or patronize in any way a business that advertises gay pride or BLM or any politically divisive philosophy. If I walked up to my local pizza shop today and it had a gay pride flag in front of it or inside of it I would turn around and walk out. And I would never go back again ever.
It’s bad enough that since Ronald Reagan the left has politicized everything from baking birthday cakes to the murder of babies and the rape of children but they certainly are not gonna get me to go along with it or as they like to call it celebrate their activities.
Business is to be politically neutral to be best. The only time when business is not to be politically neutral is when the political party is acting in ways that hurt the business such as bad taxes, bad regulations, and other items. Business wants all people and should not show specific views except ones for the country, which are patriotic.