Starbucks Coffee, which employs 228,000 people in the United States, announced that, in light of the Supreme Court decision last week that revealed the vaccine mandate for business as unconstitutional, the company would no longer require employees to be vaccinated.
Almost immediately, the hashtag #BoycottStarbucks began to trend on Twitter as users voiced their outrage at Starbucks’ decision.
I will not go to Starbucks or anywhere that does not require workers to be vaxxed. Our health is worth self-advocating for. #boycottstarbucks https://t.co/ZriCP4dxWT
— Susan Martin NO DMs!🌊🌊🌊 (@SoCalSusan) January 19, 2022
I have been a gold star ⭐ member of the @Starbucks rewards program for at least 10 years. I will not buy another item from your company until you reinstate the vaccine mandates. You're jeopardizing the health of your customers.#BoycottStarbucks https://t.co/r4LuTXSgUH
— #SophieSchollsGhost (@Saintsfan5348) January 19, 2022
Y’all really boycotting Starbucks? Damn sounds like shorter lines for me y’all go ahead 😆😂 #BoycottStarbucks pic.twitter.com/eZvzleIMJb
— Tina 💗 (@TinaJoyy) January 19, 2022
Starbucks Chief Operating Officer John Culver told employees in the memo that the company respected the ruling and would comply, even though it didn’t align with the company’s beliefs.
“I want to emphasize that we continue to believe strongly in the spirit and intent of the mandate,” Culver said. “Thank you to the more than 90 percent of partners who have already disclosed their vaccination status, and to the vast majority who are now fully vaccinated.”
Starbucks won’t be the only company that scraps the vaccine mandate. Just as Carhartt, the work clothing company, isn’t going to be the only company that maintains a vaccine mandate.
For instance, work clothing maker Carhartt, which has 3,000 U.S. workers, stuck to its vaccine mandate. The Dearborn, Michigan-based company told employees in an email last Friday that the Supreme Court decision wouldn’t impact its own mandate that went into effect this month.
“We put workplace safety at the very top of our priority list and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling doesn’t impact that core value,” Carhartt CEO Mark Valade wrote in an email to employees last Friday, according to a copy of the message that was circulated on social media. “We, and the medical community, continue to believe vaccines are necessary to ensure a safe working environment for every associate and even perhaps their households.”
There was a Twitter reaction to Carrhart’s decision, too.
Cancel @Carhartt
Stop supporting medical tyranny! pic.twitter.com/j66vftsVLO
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) January 18, 2022
The vaccine literally DOES NOT protect its workforce. You'll get the 'rona whether your vax'ed or not. What about those who got 'rona and were just fine? Natural immunity? How about mandating healthy eating and exercise as a preventative measure? Why is it vax or nothing?
— Naturally Immune #2A #3% (@g8t0r) January 18, 2022
And so it goes.
For Our VIP Subscribers: Biden’s Workplace Vaccine Mandate Was Always Doomed
Both Starbuck’s and Carhartt are exercising their own judgment in the matter of vaccines. That’s exactly how it should be. And if the workers from either company don’t like the policy, they are free to find alternative employment.
Have we really forgotten that this is what “freedom” is all about? It’s not easy to be free. It’s not supposed to be. Individuals making their own choices instead of allowing the government to make decisions for them is fundamental to being free in America.
So many want to take that freedom away from us, citing “safety” as a reason. Before too long, we will sacrifice so much freedom for “safety” that in the end, we will have neither.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member