Protesters wave a sign near the Country Club Plaza Starbucks store. There, dozens of Starbucks employees and union supporters protested allegations of anti-union tactics by the company on Thursday, March 3, 2022.
Jill Toyoshiba | Tribunnews Services | Getty Images
Starbucks According to a complaint filed with the Federal Labor Relations Commission, the union has told baristas that it could jeopardize the company’s gender-verifying medical insurance for transgender employees.
Complaints arise after more than 100 of the 9,000 US cafes in the coffee chain have voted to form a union under Workers United in the last seven months. Under interim CEO Howard Schultz, Starbucks has sought to counter the union’s promotion by highlighting the potential shortcomings of collective bargaining, such as the federal labor law banning companies. Raise wages unilaterally The entire cafe that was united without contract negotiations.
The union’s latest complaint against Starbucks was first reported Bloomberg, Submitted on Monday. A transgender employee at the Oklahoma City location told the publication that she believed her manager used a “hidden threat” in her conversation. The store manager reportedly told her employees that her benefits could improve, remain the same, or worsen if the store was integrated and specifically mentioned the use of trans-healthcare benefits. She said.
Starbucks spokesman Reggie Borges told CNBC that the claim was false.
The company’s health insurance has covered sex reassignment surgery since 2012, and since 2018 it covers a wider range of sex reassignment surgery, including hair transplantation and breast reduction surgery. Last month, the coffee chain announced that it would cover it. Travel expenses for surgery to confirm gender Because state legislators are targeting transgender rights.
As of mid-March, more than 150 anti-trans bills have been submitted to the Legislature, seeking to limit access to healthcare, sports, bathrooms and education. According to NBC News.. Oklahoma, for example, passed three transgender bans this year.
Starbucks often advertises a long history of helping LGBTQ + workers and the wider community, especially during June’s Pride Month. The company is looking at policies decades ago, including health insurance for employees with same-sex partnerships and terminal illness, inspired by Starbucks workers who died from AIDS complications.
