{"id":10068,"date":"2020-06-17T23:04:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/americans-increasingly-back-black-lives-matter-but-will-workplaces\/"},"modified":"2020-06-17T23:04:00","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T20:04:00","slug":"americans-increasingly-back-black-lives-matter-but-will-workplaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/americans-increasingly-back-black-lives-matter-but-will-workplaces\/","title":{"rendered":"#Americans increasingly back Black Lives Matter \u2014 but will workplaces?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Americans increasingly back Black Lives Matter \u2014 but will workplaces?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n As support for the Black Lives Matter movement grows, companies with a public commitment to racial justice are grapp<\/a>ling with how to address the matter internally \u2014 and some employees are speaking out.<\/p>\n

Starbucks on Friday reversed an earlier decision to prohibit workers from wearing Black Lives Matter apparel on the job, announcing that the company would be designing a new T-shirt for employees emblazoned with a dozen-plus protest signs, including \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d and \u201cNo justice, no peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil these arrive, we\u2019ve heard you want to show your support, so just be you,\u201d company executives wrote in a blog post. \u201cWear your BLM pin or t-shirt. We are so proud of your passionate support of our common humanity.\u201d The employee-led Starbucks Black Partner Network and allies created the shirt \u201cto recognize the historic significance of this time,\u201d they added. \u201cTogether, we\u2019re saying: Black Lives Matter and it\u2019s going to take ALL of us, working together, to affect change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Y-Vonne Hutchinson, the CEO and founder of the diversity and inclusion consulting firm ReadySet, told MarketWatch it was \u201cgreat news<\/a>\u201d that Starbucks had listened to its employees and customers \u2014 but added that she thought \u201cthis stumble demonstrates the need for deeper change within Starbucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does signal a fundamental lack of understanding around the Black Lives Matter movement, the issues of systemic racism, and Starbucks\u2019 role as a popular brand and employer,\u201d she said. \u201cI hope they learn from this situation and use it as a catalyst to begin that process of transformation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employment lawyer Paula Brantner, the principal and president of PB Work Solutions, said Starbucks\u2019 move was \u201cvery responsive to both the moment and what their partners want their company to stand for.\u201d \u201cThe statement is consistent with the Starbucks brand and what I understand of their culture, which shows that companies should be prepared to listen to what their employees want and not just impose the views of corporate management or restrictive rules that will cause employees to chafe or speak out publicly in opposition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The policy change came after backlash to a BuzzFeed News report about an internal company memo that advised Black Lives Matter clothing and accessories did not adhere to Starbucks\u2019 dress code policy \u2014 and explained that \u201cagitators who misconstrue the fundamental principles of Black Lives Matter movement\u201d might \u201cintentionally repurpose them to amplify divisiveness.\u201d The company\u2019s dress code prohibits any button or pin that \u201cinterferes with safety or threatens to harm customer relations or otherwise unreasonably interferes with Starbucks public image,\u201d as well as pins or buttons \u201cthat advocate a political, religious or personal issue,\u201d the memo said.<\/p>\n

Some Starbucks workers who spoke with BuzzFeed called the company\u2019s initial decision \u201csurprising and disappointing\u201d \u2014 particularly given Starbucks\u2019 public support for racial-equity causes \u2014 and said it made their voices feel \u201cmuted,\u201d pointing out that the company had allowed accessories and shirts that celebrate LGBTQ rights. The ban spawned a #BoycottStarbucks hashtag that went viral.<\/p>\n

A Starbucks spokesperson told MarketWatch on Thursday that the company was \u201ccommitted to doing our part in ending systemic racism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies can have dress codes, but they can\u2019t be discriminatory<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no federal law, and there are only a handful of state laws, \u201cthat potentially protect an employee\u2019s right to speak out at work about an important social<\/a> issue,\u201d Brantner said. And while companies are allowed to have dress codes, they\u2019re not allowed to enforce them in racially discriminatory ways, she added. \u201cOf course, that would be against the law if a black employee was fired for wearing [a Black Lives Matter shirt] but a non-black employee was not terminated for wearing something similar,\u201d such as an \u201cAll Lives Matter\u201d shirt, she said.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit employee-rights organization Workplace Fairness, which Brantner previously advised and led, notes that \u201cdress code policies must target all employees, not just you.\u201d \u201cWhile employers have a fair amount of latitude in enforcing dress code provisions, if you feel that your privacy rights have been violated by your employer or believe the enforcement of the dress code is discriminatory, contact your state department of labor, or a private attorney for more information,\u201d the organization says.<\/p>\n

There might not be a legal remedy in cases that don\u2019t show clear-cut discrimination, Brantner said. But companies are fairly susceptible in the court of public opinion to being called out for this kind of behavior, she added, \u201cso that\u2019s probably the way to go at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018This country is going through a major change\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starbucks baristas aren\u2019t the only public-facing employees who have struggled to express support for the Black Lives Matter movement at work. Quinton Desamours, an 18-year-old from Lehigh Acres, Fla., says he resigned from his Publix supermarket job this month after an assistant manager asked him at the beginning of his shift June 6 to remove a face mask bearing the acronym \u201cBLM.\u201d<\/p>\n

The manager said that he didn\u2019t personally have a problem with the mask, Desamours told MarketWatch, but added that he wasn\u2019t yet sure where the company stood on the issue \u2014 a statement Desamours said he found \u201cdisturbing.\u201d The teen said the manager also told him he was endangering himself and others who worked there, and said Desamours couldn\u2019t go back to work with the mask on. \u201cBut that was my mask, so I decided to leave,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While the supermarket chain does prohibit masks with \u201cnon-Publix messaging,\u201d Desamours claims that rule wasn\u2019t strictly enforced at his store, citing coworkers\u2019 masks displaying a floral design and a comic strip<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He later called to resign from his employer of a month and a half. A district manager called a few days later to apologize and offer his position back, he said, saying that his resignation hadn\u2019t gone through yet. But Desamours said he no longer wanted to work there.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country is going through a major change, and I didn\u2019t want to be a part of a company that doesn\u2019t want to be a part of the change,\u201d he said. \u201cI know how people try to twist [Black Lives Matter] into a political statement, but the basis of the movement is equality, and that\u2019s how I saw it \u2014 and that\u2019s what I told them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Publix did not return a MarketWatch request for comment on Desamours\u2019 account. But in response to an inquiry about a similar incident, a message posted on Publix\u2019s customer-service Twitter account Friday said: \u201cWe have ordered a substantial number of face coverings to provide to our associates as part of our mandatory facial covering policy. Given the impact demand has had on availability, we have allowed associates to wear medical\/surgical masks, dust masks and cloth face coverings until their uniform face coverings arrive in the coming days. Our uniform policy does not permit non-Publix messaging.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur focus remains on ensuring a welcoming work and shopping environment for all associates and customers,\u201d the company added, linking to a page that noted Publix\u2019s $1 million donation to National Urban League affiliates alongside CEO Todd Jones\u2019s note to associates about racial injustice and diversity.<\/p>\n

In a similar incident on June 5, a Martin\u2019s Super Market employee in Granger, Ind., said he quit his job after allegedly being told he couldn\u2019t wear the \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d mask he had worn during two of his shifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday I was informed by my store manager that there had been so many customer complaints filed against me for wearing it that the corporate office was instructing me not to wear it. Meanwhile, Martins has made no statement in solidarity of its black workers or customers,\u201d Avery Worrell wrote in a Facebook post.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome may say I was violating company policy for using them as a \u2018platform,\u2019\u201d he added, \u201cbut I believe Martin\u2019s should speak out and actively combat racism especially because they serve a largely white consumer base and these tend to be the people who need to hear it the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin\u2019s did not return a MarketWatch request for comment. A spokeswoman told the South Bend Tribune that the company stood in support of racial equality, and that \u201crespect is one of our core values, and as such, all of our associates have the responsibility to create a supportive and welcoming environment that values every individual.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dennis Eidson, the interim president and CEO of Martin\u2019s parent SpartanNash, recently called on Americans to \u201cstep up and do more to eradicate racism,\u201d and said the company would continue providing workers with opportunities to complete \u201cdignity and respect training and unconscious bias training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Support for Black Lives Matter has grown in recent weeks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Surveys show a dramatic increase in Americans\u2019 support for the Black Lives Matter movement over time. A Yahoo News\/YouGov poll this month, for example, found that 57% of U.S. adults had a \u201cvery or somewhat favorable\u201d view of the movement. In contrast, just 27% of U.S. adults in a 2016 YouGov poll said they \u201cstrongly or somewhat\u201d approved of the movement.<\/p>\n

The recent protests stemming from George Floyd\u2019s killing appear to have galvanized considerable support for Black Lives Matter: A June 10 New York Times article, citing data from the survey-research firm Civiqs, reported that support for the movement had grown in the previous two weeks by almost as much as it had in the last two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that more people in the public are endorsing and making the statement that black lives matter rather than saying, \u2018I\u2019m part of a movement or part of an organization\u2019 or any kind of connotation that goes with that,\u201d Quinetta Roberson, a Villanova University professor of management who specializes in diversity and inclusion, told MarketWatch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an absolute statement \u2014 black lives matter \u2014 so I think that is what\u2019s being said,\u201d Roberson added. \u201cOnce it starts getting into interpretation and more relative and more evaluative, that\u2019s where we start to see the controversy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those three words have become \u201cmore mainstream,\u201d Brantner said. \u201cPeople are pushing back on the perception of Black Lives Matter as a radical or violent movement, and not letting its identity be smeared by those who are uncomfortable with what it represents,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Brands, meanwhile, are cognizant of \u201cthe power of social-justice messaging,\u201d Hutchinson said. She pointed to Nike\u2019s soaring sales after the company backed ex-NFL player Colin Kaepernick in his protest against racial injustice and police brutality.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarketers and brand managers are paying attention to that, so the messaging has on the corporate side changed,\u201d she said. \u201cI still don\u2019t know what that means for real corporate practices in terms of where the rubber meets the road: Are businesses hiring, promoting, supporting their black employees? Are they respecting their black customers? That\u2019s the kind of systemic change that seems to be happening, but I think it\u2019s going to take time to see how real it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

That change, she added, includes supporting employees who choose to publicly support Black Lives Matter at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve made their statements, they\u2019ve contributed money or tried to put in support systems,\u201d Roberson agreed. \u201cBut what\u2019s the next thing? How do they start to actually change the culture or the structure of their organizations so that these things get addressed in a sustainable way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Companies will have to answer for when their treatment of employees is at odds with the public image they\u2019ve cultivated, Brantner said. \u201cWhen a company comes out and talks about the tragic events and how they support their black employees and they\u2019re investing in communities \u2026 if there are incidents within the company that don\u2019t match that, I think that\u2019s where companies are going to be the most vulnerable right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018They just have to put some muscle behind that decision\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hutchinson doesn\u2019t buy arguments that policies governing employees\u2019 Black Lives Matter attire are meant to keep workers safe. Store managers and employees should be comfortable calling the authorities or booting customers who harass their coworkers, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not obligated to serve the person who doesn\u2019t align with their values or who doesn\u2019t treat their employees well \u2014 they just have to put some muscle behind that decision,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you have someone who\u2019s [wearing a Black Lives Matter pin] and who doesn\u2019t have that kind of support, that\u2019s when it gets dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hutchinson said it wasn\u2019t on black employees \u2014 \u201cwho in many cases are bearing the brunt of this systemic, institutional racism,\u201d and often have less power at work \u2014 to lead the charge for changing the rules. That\u2019s a job for workers with privilege, she said, who can leverage their power as allies.<\/p>\n

Desamours, who is headed to ASA College in Miami to play basketball in the fall, said he was in a financially stable place that made his resignation possible. But he acknowledged that many others are not in the same position.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know a lot of people may put up with discrimination or racism or inequality at work, but they have to stay \u2014 they need to do what they have to do to pay their bills,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m glad I was able to take a stand and be a voice for people who can\u2019t always do that.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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