- cross-posted to:
- labour@hexbear.net
- cross-posted to:
- labour@hexbear.net
Thousands of unionized Starbucks workers will walk off their jobs on Thursday, with the one-day work stoppages coming to protest the company’s stance with shops that voted to organize, according to Starbucks Workers United.
The labor action is timed to for Starbucks’ Red Cup Day, an annual event in which the coffee giant hands out holiday-themed reusable cups. Starbucks has refused to negotiate in good faith over staffing and other issues that are particularly acute during promotions, according to the union.
“Starbucks is creating unnecessarily stressful working conditions by scheduling promotion after promotion without increasing staffing,” Neha Cremin, a Starbucks worker in Oklahoma City, said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “Starbucks has made it clear that they won’t listen to workers, so we’re advocating for ourselves by going on strike.”
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it was so cruel working a food service job where every so often they’d do cutesy little promo days or sales days (over dumb completely made up little folk holidays or ad campaign traditions like this); they cook up this sort of faux-positive team-spirit attitude about ‘getting thru it’ or whatever, like a band of soldiers. and at the end of the day, you’re worn out, stressed, you got paid the same shitty wage you got paid yesterday, the company doubled their profits, which all go off to some dickhead in ohio who didn’t do shit, but looked forward to today like christmas
and i love how after 2020 now it’s just par for the course for restaurants to always be understaffed because it’s cheaper. this stupid fucking country is falling apart.
Businesses used to give their workers Christmas bonuses for doing things like that.
and i love how after 2020 now it’s just par for the course for restaurants to always be understaffed because it’s cheaper.
But don’t forget the managers and business owners complaining “people don’t want to work” and blaming Democrats, unions, unemployment benefits, and “kids these days”
Why Ohio?
Why not Ohio?
Fair enough
One of the first shops to unionize was on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. Starbucks recently announced a number of closings and surprisingly enough, that shop is one of the stores being closed. Corporate swears the closing has nothing to do with the union.
Apparently a shop operating successfully for over 20 years in a high visibility, heavy foot trafficked area of a college town is just a recipe for failure.
It’s so frustrating that such blatant union busting goes unpunished. If I had any power, I’d see execs in charge of decisions like that go to jail. Not a fine – jail. White collar crime is one area where I think prison actually can be a decent deterrent (if there’s enough enforcement that people don’t think they’d go uncaught). It’s a crime where the perpetrator usually is knowledgeable, not in the heat of the moment, and has plenty of time to recognize what they’re doing.
Nah, I’m okay with this type of union busting, even as a fully paid union member. Yeah, those staff are out of a job, but with the help of the union they’re a member of, they’ll find another job pretty quickly. Especially in this example as the union will consider it a win and want to capitalise on the free promotion. One less location trying to screw their staff is a win in my book too.
Aren’t the Starbucks unions effectively just relevant to Starbucks, so if they closed all the unionized stores, the union wouldn’t have anywhere to place them.
Or are Starbucks unions part of a larger union?
That’s the great thing about unions, they are all intertwined and will support each other. I can’t remember which country it is, but there’s a current furore going on in Europe with Tesla workers. Dockworkers etc have stepped up and are supporting them in their strike by doing a go slow on Tesla imports etc. Similar things have happened in the past too. Say steelworkers go on strike. If shit is bad enough, you’ll have members of the coal workers union, mining union etc also do their bit to help screw the company screwing the steelworkers with the aim of getting a proper resolution for the steelworkers. That’s why you should join a union. They don’t just advocate for proper conditions for just you and your fellow union members in your industry, they advocate for proper conditions for all workers in your industry, as well as workers in other industries, regardless of if they’re members or not (although, obviously, you will get way more support if you are a union member).
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Or support a local Cafe that treats their workers right. Can be hard to find, but they do exist.
I’ll support them if they give me a better deal, lol.
I always find it funny how local places are like “yeah buy local buy local, it’s so important. No, it’s not important enough for us to give you a better deal.”
I hear ya on that. My philosophy is that if I’m going out for coffee I’ll pay for a good one from a local Cafe. Most mornings I’ll make it at home to compensate for the cost.
Things are generally cheaper when you buy more of them. It’s true that once you pass a certain threshold this isn’t as significant, but that threshold can be pretty high.
Then you get into things like commodities trading (eg buying and maybe even selling futures), which is something Starbucks engages in. It would be very hard for a small shop to participate in commodities trading (barriers of entry due to size, time in the day, etc), let alone do it well.
There’s also a bunch of little things that ar a “do it once for all stores” or “do it once for a single store”. At a mom and pop that usually means that they won’t be able to do it as well as a bigger store because of time and resource constraints.
Starbucks can essentially engage in a perverted form of collective bargaining, where because their demand is so high, they can make suppliers cut deep, deep into their margins and fight for a chance to secure a contract with Starbucks. Even if they aren’t a monopoly, they’re big enough that they can throw their weight around, especially in “foreign markets” with already depressed wages.
The point is that they can’t afford to shaft anyone because they’re local (ie your goddamn neighbours), so yes, you end up paying closer to the true price for your cup of coffee. Increase that even more if they ensure their produce is certified and actually equitably sourced.
Big franchises screw over others because they can afford to scale to such a degree that no one can compete with their margins and cost savings from vertical integrations.
The coffee is better than Starbucks at small cafes because they don’t burn the beans. Starbucks literally over roasts their beans so they all taste the same. Also it lasts longer on the shelf.
Good coffee doesn’t need to “last longer” because you’re going to drink it fast.
I actually like their coffee, but I’m never buying it because they’re a stain on the globe.
There are worse companies, but they’re bad enough to boycott forever.
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Yeah. If small businesses want to compete, they have to do better than “we’re a small business but we still charge you the same price or more.”
Fuck that, lol. If they care so much, why can’t they take the hit? Why does it always have the be the customer? Lol.
I would imagine economies of scale comes into it heavily. Smaller, independent cafes cannot get nearly the same low costs as huge corporations. They could easily be paying two, three times the price for supplies and don’t have the financial cushions to eat losses.
They could easily be paying two, three times the price for supplies and don’t have the financial cushions to eat losses.
I’m glad I found someone who is knowledgeable about this.
How much does coffee supplies cost local cafes vs. big chains? Do you have exact figures?
Starbucks doesn’t publish their bulk prices for obvious reasons, unfortunately. You can find people making guesses online (such as this guy) but for instance he uses Costco bulk coffee prices to calculate and I highly doubt Starbucks is paying that much. Your average small independent cafe is going to be getting their supplies from generic wholesale stores and sites, where you can view prices for cups and things. Hell, I know some places that legit just buy their milk for their cafe at places like Aldi. So they’re paying consumer prices for milk versus the bulk discount a mega corp would get.
Edit for missing period which made an odd sentence.
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Of course I do. Do you? Lol.
Most businesses try to maximize profit. This intrinsically involves giving people the least they’re willing to accept while charging them the most they’re willing to pay.
If the ‘local’ option doesn’t give me a better deal than the big chains, I’m gonna go with the big chains. If they care so much about providing their service to their community, then they can make less profit. But they won’t because, like most businesses, their goal is to maximize profit.
I eagerly await for you to tell me why everything I just said was wrong, lol.
I’m not the one you responded to, but here are a few notes.
Larger stores generally have higher profit margins for the same priced item because they can negotiate lower prices with distributors. So if we’re talking about coffee shops, the flavorings, machines, etc will all be way more expensive for smaller shops.
Larger shops also have a higher throughout per employee, so they also get more total sales, which means they can offer lower prices for the same amount of profit. So if they get competition, they can usually cut prices to bring customers back in, at least until the competition is forced to raise prices again to stay afloat.
So smaller shops rarely compete on price, they generally try to compete on quality, either on service, products, or both. So if you value either of those more than price, you’ll probably get a better deal at a local shop. But if price is your main issue, it’s unlikely to happen because the economies of scale just don’t work like that.
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That’ll surely fix it. As soon as I start making coffee at home, the several Starbucks near me will no longer have a line out the door that they don’t have enough staff to keep up with.
Vote with your wallet like it’s your ballot. Is it gonna be the society-shattering vote? No. Is it a step on a marathon to make society a better place? Yep
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I agree, but…
Putting out personal boycotts as the only solution is ineffective. I do support that in general, his comment just came across to me as one of those “I wasn’t buying X anyway. Personal boycott!”. Maybe it wasn’t intended that way.
Also, boycotting Starbucks that have unionized is counterproductive. Boycotting ones that haven’t makes sense.
Also, boycotting Starbucks that have unionized is counterproductive. Boycotting ones that haven’t makes sense.
The unions are a pain in Starbucks’ ass. They will take your money you’ve spent at the unionized Starbucks and use it for union-busting strategies, guaranteed.
Would you buy eggs from a farmer that kicks their chickens because everyone else is doing it?
Considering how the majority of chickens are actually treated, I’m not sure you’re going to get the answer you’re hoping for.
Wow, Unions work.
I guess this is why the ruling class and useful idiots are so against them.
It’s November 16th. That’s the Red Cup Day. I assume CBS didn’t add the date to the article because they don’t give a shit if customers accidentally cross a picket line.
It says “Thursday,” which, assuming the the article was written and posted this week, is a perfectly adequate way of conveying the date of the protest. Not that I think CBS has workers’ interests in mind or anything, but we may as well be accurate with our condemnation of corporations.
The author could have just not known that? I didn’t.
Any customer crossing the picket line – or even getting a red cup from a not-yet-unionized store, for that matter – is a class traitor.
Not if they’re a billionaire!
I don’t get it. Shouldn’t we want to overwhelm the business when workers aren’t there?
Starbucks should see how much profit they’re missing out on and have to deal with all the angry customers.
I wish 50% of America would go to the event to cause an absolute overwhelm, crush and chaos that would bring fines to each location.
Each customer should take 5 minutes or longer to order. Vehicles should break down in the drive throughs.
Since a 100% boycott won’t happen, this is the only way.
Just don’t order. Take up space inside but never order. Don’t give them money.
Can’t do that, legally, they can trespass you.
Not if you leave before the police get there.
And if you do wait, what have you actually lost? Access to overpriced coffee at one location?
Starbucks policy is to let you stay in the cafe no matter what. A few years ago they shut down every store for a day to train the workers on this. it was a whole thing.
Sure. Just pretend like you’re thinking about your order until they call the cops. They won’t trespass you if they think you’re a customer, and it doesn’t carry any weight until the cops get there.
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I plan to go in, use the bathroom, and not buy anything. It is like slacktivism but I get peace and quite while on the can.
Starbucks bathroom protesting is a hard pass for me. Those things get aggressively shit in by average folks who’ve come to the intersection of lactose intolerance and caffeine.
They’re also a big hit for homeless junkies who need a quiet place to shoot up, or simply want to take a 5 pound opiate-constipation dump.
So, you’re saying Starbucks restrooms are a good thing, providing what are effectively public accommodations when the city won’t.
Please, I’ve gone to the toilets on day 5 of a 5 day music festival. Nothing toilet wise scares me anymore.
Lol, maybe I’ll do that too. I haven’t gone to Starbucks in over a year, but there’s one on the way to my kid’s school, so I might just do it.
They can pay for my flush.
Meanwhile I’ll be over here continuing to never buy overpriced retail caffeinated sugar drink from a godawful megacorporation, like I’ve done since 1987.
Was that after your friends died in an Orange Mocha Frapachino fueled freak accident gasoline fight.
Is this a school for ants?
Is this a school for ants?
I bet you’re fun at parties.
Some of the stores by us today have their keyhole glued so no one can get in
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Oh no! If they walk out on red cup day, how will all the basic white women get their reusable cup that they’re gonna just post a picture of on their twitter/x before throwing it out after they finish their drink? Won’t they think of the social media influencers who think Starbucks is a high quality luxury status symbol?
Wow what a weirdly racist and sexist thing to say
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Jive turkey always sounds like a real food you can eat. I am picturing turkey in brine with spices. Kinda sour and hot. Maybe served with something that cuts it, like mashed potatoes with cheddar.
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White isn’t a race
Caffeine isn’t a flavor
Oh snap
Ok
Because it worked so well last time that they now do it yearly.
Maybe workers should walk out yearly. Or even more often. Just to show the bosses who they rely on.
This is brilliant. Just like UAW was doing “no-notice” strikes, do an unannounced one day walkout every once in a while. Picket with signs that point out the benefits workers have achieved by striking. Not only would it remind companies of the value of labor, it would keep union solidarity strong among workers. It might even be a step towards a general strike, when such a thing is necessary.
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Nobody said there was a problem? Just pointing out the ineffectiveness of this if it is required to do it yearly.
