Columbus Starbucks banned from displaying LGBTQ+ Pride Month decorations, workers say

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Workers at a Columbus Starbucks are accusing the company of banning workers from installing decorations celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month.

Starbucks Workers United, the union representing U.S. Starbucks employees, alleges the company is directing locations in Ohio and several other states to remove Pride displays. The union cited a district manager at a Columbus Starbucks who was caught on video taking down a Pride flag.

"This is contrary to previous years when workers were allowed, and even encouraged, to put up Pride decorations without incident," the union said in a release. "Despite Starbucks claiming that there has been no policy change, workers across the country are speaking out and proving otherwise."

The Seattle-based coffee company did not respond to NBC4's request for comment.

Shenby G., a Columbus-area employee, reaffirmed that corporate management ordered the location's Pride flags to be removed. The move made employees feel "unsafe, attacked" and like the company was "taking a page out of the right-wing reactionary's playbook," Shenby said.

"Trans and queer workers make Starbucks run, and by taking down our flag and refusing to bargain with us for a fair contract, the company is showing that they will put profit, and themselves, over the workers," said Shenby in the union's release.

The union is alleging the removal of Pride decorations is a continuation of the company's "anti-union campaign to intimidate workers and make them feel unwelcome in their own workplace." More than 320 Starbucks nationwide have voted to unionize in the past year, including a location across from Ohio State University’s campus.

However, employees in Massachusetts were told there aren't enough "labor hours" to decorate for Pride and workers in Georgia were told it was a safety concern to have workers on ladders installing decorations.

Neha Cremin, an Oklahoma City employee, said their store manager took down a transgender Pride flag at the end of last year in order for "every Starbucks store to have an identical, homogenous look." Cremin said the flag "didn't fit that image."

"We are a store of mostly LGBTQIA+ workers, near the historic gay district of Oklahoma City, with many LGBTQIA+ customers, and we can’t display a pride flag where customers might see it," said Cremin in the union's release. "There are no pride decorations up at my store this year."

Text messages from a Starbucks manager in the Mid-Atlantic region also cited the company's move toward store "uniformity" and ordered workers not to buy decorations. In a letter, another manager wrote to employees the store would not be decorating for a Pride after a regional decision was made to "create consistency from store to store."

Now, workers have started a petition demanding Starbucks allow Pride decorations in stores. The petition has gained more than 2,600 signatures so far.

"Starbucks claims to be a true ally but they refuse to stand up for workers, especially during a time when LGBTQIA+ people are under attack," the union said. "True allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community is negotiating a union contract with the [more than 320] stores that have won their union, that legally locks in our benefits, our freedom of expression, and ways to hold management accountable."