Starbucks Pride Flag Strike Drags Coffee Into Culture War
newsweek.comStarbucks and some of the coffee chain's workers has spilled over into a week-long strike across stores in the U.S.Members of Starbucks Workers United, a collective that hopes to gain union recognition from the company, began its Strike with Pride week of walkouts on June 23—which is primarily about what it describes as unfair labor practices.The collective said the strike would begin with the chain's flagship Seattle Roastery store, and would involve more than 3,000 workers across over 150 stores.Starbucks has publicly denied that it had been taking down LGBTQ+ Pride decorations, previously telling Newsweek that it "unwaveringly" supports the LGBTQ+ community and that "there has been no change to any policy on this matter."With some praising the coffee chain and others decrying it for the alleged slight against the LGBTQ+ community, the issue is rapidly becoming a facet of an ongoing culture war about LGBTQ+ inclusion in public life.Several brands have faced condemnation from conservatives over marketing advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.
While some have appeared to pull back from such moves, others have stood by their espoused values.Charlie Kirk, the founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, referenced the strike in a tweet on Friday, which as of 3:20 a.m.
ET Monday had been viewed 2.1 million times."They claim Starbucks is caving to growing backlash to Pride just like Target, which removed or repositioned Pride merch to the back of many stores," he wrote, referencing another recent culture war backlash against Target over its LGBTQ+ Pride clothing and accessories range. "This doesn't happen if we didn't finally start pushing back."Union workers at 150 Starbucks locations are going on strike today.
