Starbucks strike: coffee chain accused of banning Pride month decor

Starbucks Corp (NASDAQ: SBUX) is in focus after some of its organised stores went on strike on Friday.

What is the Starbucks staff protesting against?

Starbucks Workers United – the union that represents its baristas accused the coffee chain today of banning Pride month décor at some of its stores across the United States.

But the Nasdaq-listed firm denies such allegations.

Workers United continues to spread false information – a tactic used to seemingly divide our partners and deflect from their failure to respond to bargaining sessions for more than 200 stores.

Nonetheless, close to 3,500 baristas in total at more than 150 of its cafes plan on participating in strikes over the next week. At writing, Starbucks stock is down about 15% versus its year-to-date high in early May.

More stores could join by the end of the week

On Friday, the said union also confirmed that another two dozen stores or even more could join the strike in the coming days as well.  

Data from Citi suggests foot traffic at Starbucks stores last week lagged its year-to-date average. Whether it will worsen further following these allegations is yet to unfold.

The coffee chain is offering extra shifts to its workers that are not on strike to staff the stores participating in it. Wall Street currently rates its shares at “overweight”.

Earlier this year, notable names including AB InBev and Target Corp also faced backlash over their stance on such social issues. The related boycott even dethroned Bud Light as the top selling beer in the United States as Invezz reported here.

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