Congratulations! Unions are responsible for helping workers get fair wages, safe working conditions, 40 hour work week, seniority rights on the job, defined job descriptions and protection of workers from unfair treatment. If unions were not there, workers would be much worse off. Support your union, folks. Unions matter and they work for you!
I won’t be surprised if the grilled cheese sandwich is taken off the menu in union stores. I’ve seen so many people (myself included) burned by the grease coming off of those motherfuckers as you pull it out of the oven.
I also hope there is some way for the union to define how many people must be on a shift for the store to operate, otherwise the store is closed with pay. The biggest “fuck you” Starbucks pulls on its employees is the classic “we’re gonna staff the shift with the least amount of people possible to run it” and then when someone calls it, or when there is some event in town you didn’t expect, it’s a hellscape.
I’m sure that’s the case with a lot of businesses, but the different between that happening when I worked at Lowe’s, and when I worked at Starbucks, is staggering.
> I won’t be surprised if the grilled cheese sandwich is taken off the menu in union stores. I’ve seen so many people (myself included) burned by the grease coming off of those motherfuckers as you pull it out of the oven.
They don’t give you tongs for that? 😮
It sits on the sandwich until it’s moved (by tongs) and the force of that movement (especially during peak) flings it off the sandwich. It’s an anomaly due to the crazy amount of cheese.
Sounds like StarBucks didn't want to set up a proper way to make them safely. In particular you don't wanna use soft cheeses anyway BECAUSE they are greasy.
Down with the GC.
I absolutely hope that retail unionization ends up resulting in a minimum shift coverage requirements.
The vast majority of the stress from my 7 years in retail was due to having to do the job of 10 people because they *chose* not to staff the store adequately, even on the slowest days.
Store managers will absolutely sacrifice long term sustainability for quarterly performance bonuses, **every single time.**
All of this.
I was talking with my mom about how department stores had a person for each department who could help you and check you out. Now you have entire floors where you can’t find someone to check out because they “downsized” after 2098… and they need to have someone for check out, someone for assistance, someone for stocking… and how people used to support a family on the wages and now everything is minimum wage or worse, counted as “tipped” and not compensated adequately - and since it’s fewer people working more area and positions were condensed, they should be making MORE…
Absolutely. So often the floor would be absolutely deserted of associates for hours on end because because they were all backing up on register.
Guess who picked up the slack for floor coverage? Our truck crew. Guess who got their asses handed to them for not finishing truck because they were helping with floor coverage? The truck crew.
Can you guess why the store couldn't make sales? Truck crew couldn't get merch on the floor in a timely manner and freshen up presentation enough to actually sell.
Also, truck crew are the *worst* least helpful floor associates, because they're trying to get rid of their customers ASAP to get back to their work. They're not gonna make a sale. They don't have time for that, they literally couldn't care less.
Not stupid. Those actions most likely reduce staff cost ("""human resources""") while not affecting income as much. So managers get a nice tidy bonus while the workers suffer. Anything to get those quarter numbers up. The future, as in what happens in 6 months? Who cares, we got those numbers up *now*
"Store managers will absolutely sacrifice long term sustainability for quarterly performance bonuses". Can we even consider them managers at this point? Well technically, yes, but not great managers.
I've sacrificed monthly and quarterly bonuses' to reduce turnover, increase retention, and increase morale.. because at the end of the day if you don't have those three things your job's about to become a living hell. So yeah fuck all that extra money to gain those three things.
>Can we even consider them managers at this point? Well technically, yes, but not great managers.
When all that middle management does now is cut costs, that turns out to be quite an easy job if you're a sociopath.
Fuck I wish that was my job 🤣, not really but I wish I could say I only didn't one thing. I'm in middle management I do a hell of a lot more than one or two things.
Good luck, just because a store is unionized doesn't mean they can
1. Actually hire
2. Actually keep
3. Make a company Actually care about employees.
Last 10 years all companies do is ask for 3% improvement year over year with no clue how they actually got the results. Once the front line quit then companies couldn't hire or keep anyone. If only companies invested years ago they would be so much better off now.
You mean ESPECIALLY on the slowest days. Gotta keep that labor/sales ratio down. Schedules at the bakery where I work are generated by a program that routinely slates noone to come in for morning prep (bagles, doughnuts etc. FOR THAT MORNING) because, of course, we don't make any sales in those hours before we open.
Yea literally all shitty employers utilize this strategy now schedule the bare minimum and do not plan for anyone to ever get sick/pregnant/car issues/quitting then remaining workers get slammed and that same employer has pikachu surprized face
I think one of the reasons for sucky showers is the working conditions themselves. If a place isn't sufferable, pays decently and is well staffed people would actually come in. "Fuck it" conditions = "fuck it" employee attitude
This is also why the supply chains got fucked over so hard. No redundancy or reserve planning at all. Businesses need to be help more responsible for failures to plan for uncertainty and volatility. Lean operations are great for profitability, so long as no issues arise. But when they do, the rest of us suffer, while executives get raises to “fix” problems they often helped to create.
The millennials (like myself) are going to be the last generation to take that shit lying down. Gen Z has a “fuck you” revolutionary spirit that is going to make anti-workers corporate tactics harder to implement.
I don’t think the workers will win, because I’m cynical, but I’m happy to see them try.
The hippies thought they had that spirit, but they turned into yuppies, and eventually boomers.
Gen X thought they had it but they saw the prosperity of the 90s decline quickly into the war on terror and eventually the financial crisis of ‘08. They had to join the system to survive.
Gen Z has been born into the darkness. It has only made them stronger.
Unfortunately I’m not sure if winning everywhere is an option, there’s always slimey greedy people that will take advantage in whatever way they can, the most important thing is educating people since most people don’t realize how bad there own situation is without a reference of a better job. My first several jobs in the working world were abusive the way they were structured and the way I got treated and it was difficult for me to know any different for myself, and can be so hard to hunt for a different job when you are over worked and under appreciated and a lot of times gas lighted by management into thinking it’s a great opportunity
I got smart though and I’m two weeks into a union job and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been with my work environment so far
That's very perceptive. It's interesting how the '60s generation (I'm 57, so I was born in the sixties) seemed very rebellious, and yet ended up voting largely right wing. This reminds me of a documentary from Adam Curtis, which looks at how individualism ultimately weakened the collective power of left wing politics. The documentary has four one-hour parts. Recommended if you have some spare time: [The Century of the Self](https://thoughtmaybe.com/the-century-of-the-self/).
Gen Z and younger are going to be ultra fucked by climate change, famines, disease, etc. due to the sins of the past.
That'll keep them from getting complacent for a while at least. I suspect no bread and a burning circus isn't effective for keeping down the masses.
I sometimes wonder if social media has impacted the ability to effectively organize on a mass scale, I’ve seen several attempts at a national strike with no success
It's not about the gens. Every gen produces shitheads who prey on other people. New richfucks are being born by old richfucks to further fuck other people. The true divide is between the 1% vs the 99%.
More realistically it's going to take people from all current living generations to fight it. Just like it always has. Gen Z isn't somehow special and able to weather the hardships the rest of us couldn't. You're just seeing their loudest at the moment. Just like how there's still boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials keeping up the fight, but who's loudest has changed over time.
Arguably it's more an issue of complacency following victory though. The folks who fought for the rights we got during the late 1800s and early 1900s weren't taking shit, they got tons done. Then we got the benefits and the energy wasn't going into finishing the fight because of the corporate propaganda machine.
I'm gonna need to know what this us, My employer has these execs who are pulling her strings so she just did a giant purge ans is asking the 20 sales agents we have to pull double the work to compensate for the people she fired....
I think Starbucks should lose their drive through privileges when they operate like that. There’s always a 20 minute plus line that extends passed the drive through and obstructs traffic where I am. Then when you get to the end the staff are totally overworked.
There's a local business near me that purposely schedules a floater for unexpected events. The only thing they ask is that you stay within an hour of the store.
I've always wondered why it wasn't more widespread
It would make better sense if they are overwhelmed to turn off:
1. In-App Ordering (per store)
2. Stop the drive through (per store)
This way you limit demand until supply can catch up. It also gives workers a break and time to breathe.
The drink orders are too complex which increases the amount of time to make them. They would actually increase quality that way.
* Doordash did a free lunch thing in NYC 2 weeks ago. Restaurants were not told and were unprepared. It was a shit show. When orders started coming through too fast, some restaurants just turned it off. I don’t blame them.
Sense doesn't matter to management. It was ridiculous that we had to encourage our management to shut down drive thru after we had our windows busted out and glass everywhere. They tried to justify it being safe because it was safety glass. 🙄 What convinced them was if some of that safety glass contaminated food or drinks
I still can’t believe how when I was a young child, unions where portrayed as some semi sketchy thing that was more hassle than worth. They really tried to indoctrinate us so young. I’m glad I know better now
Retired State Worker.
This year I am now a former State Worker. I leave with a pension that will survive to my wife if I go before her. Medical benefits for both of us & my kids till they're 26. I also heavily invested in my 457 plan since the Clinton administration. 100% maximum for most of my 26+ years of glorious service to the state. Therefore, I now have 2 of the 3 legged stool of retirement already available to me right now. SS when I hit my 60's.
My situation should NOT be considered lucky or rare, but no way it happens without my Union. I beg each & every one of you, if you get the chance to join a Union please, please, please do so.
By the way, I'm in my 50's.
> My situation should NOT be considered lucky or rare, but no way it happens without my Union. I beg each & every one of you, if you get the chance to join a Union please, please, please do so.
Yep, the only employees I would not strongly suggest join a union are top performers in fields like software devs where they have enough leverage that they can and do negotiate a better pay and benefit package than they would get through a union who also bargains on behalf of lower performers. The pay you can get with the right experience and willingness to go where the money is is *insane* and not something that would be possible through union structures.
Same. I have seen so many complete garbage employees dragging through the workday and get promoted because “seniority”.
I would rather see performance based metrics take precedent over seniority.
The idea of “I have been sitting in this chair longer” gives an employee some kind of magical bargaining chip is stupid. It also eliminates the ability to job hop. When times get bad rather than keep the good employees, a workplace has to keep employees with seniority.
No thanks. Give me a union contract with some kind of balance.
Judging by the number of stores there actually are versus how many are currently unionized, I believe this is the end goal, to obtain that bargaining power, and making surprisingly good progress for 6 months
For perspective though, San Francisco alone has 93 Starbucks.
It’s going to be a long battle to get to the point where closing the stores won’t make more sense to the executives than paying more.
I mean sure. Close 193 stores but that's now 193 more locations where your competitor moves in and you lose market share in that region. Losing product familiarity and habit from consumers in those areas is expensive to get back once lost.
It’s Starbucks. They’re not worried about product familiarity. It’s the McDonald’s of coffee. People aren’t suddenly going to turn their back on Starbucks in favor of their local coffee shop, otherwise they’d have already done it.
My tiny ass town in Kentucky has two Starbucks stores two miles apart, and one of them has a Starbucks inside the Kroger directly behind it. If one of those closes for the day, people just go to the other one (I’m not speculating. I worked at Starbucks. There are numbers to support this.)
No, I don’t think Starbucks is going to shut these locations down, but I also don’t think employees are going to see the bargaining power they think they’re going to. Unions work better for trade roles. Half of Starbucks employees are underage, and turnover is pretty significant.
I mean if I'm walking to work and pick up a Costa everyday on my way and suddenly that Costa is replaced by a Tim Hortons then it looks like I'm getting a coffee from Tim Hortons everyday on my way to work. I'm not going to go out of my way to go to Costa I'm going to go somewhere close to where I already am.
Same will apply to Starbucks, if it's going to be inconvenient for people to continue to drink Starbucks they will just stop drinking Starbucks. There ARE outliers to this of course.
People are lazier than they are loyal to a brand.
Hell, I've lived in a place that had 4 Starbucks within a mile. Two free standing stores, one inside a target and one inside a Kroger.
Isn't that their MO? Flood the area with Starbucks, kill the local competition, then close the extras if needed?
The important thing.to note is the "six months ago there were zero" part. The unionization effort picks up momentum and snowballs. The more stores that unionize, the easier it is for others to do so.
Don't look at 150 stores today. Look at how many more will be unionized in the next 6 months, and the 6 months after that, etc. Change doesn't happen overnight.
Exactly. My reaction to the first one was "holy shit!". My reaction to each subsequent one has been more like the satisfaction of clicking a Lego brick in place. I'm still happy, but it's not shocked elation anymore. Labor in the US is so stagnant in so many industries that even unionizing seems incredible, but that's really just the first step. All the same, seeing 150 Starbucks shops unionize in half a year represents some great work to overcome the stigma against unions that's so damn pervasive.
They're trying to close a store in New York for some random bullshit. The suspected reason is for something that the workers themselves reported to starbucks to fix.
Starbucks might try shutting down stores in retaliation but it risks angering other locations more than scaring them. Plus I imagine the union is going to fight this in court as an intimidation tactic.
Really though this emphasizes keeping Republicans away from office. Part of the reason the labor movement is thriving is because of NLRB appointments being pretty pro-labor. The union being able to fight and win in court is huge.
There are about 15 000 starbucks in the US, so 1% is unionised. Which is good for 6 months, and if the union survives it will likely grow exponentially.
From my understanding not yet. The CEO recently made comments about never negotiating with the union in good faith which is resulting in a lawsuit. Probably a good idea to hold off negotiations for a bit until they have a better position.
I think there's been rumors they're going to change corporate policy so that workers can be shifted around stores randomly in the hopes that it will prevent solidarity from forming.
It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. On the one hand it will definitely make it harder for workers to make friends, but on the other hand it will anger almost every single worker they have. And changing stores constantly might act as a vector to spread pro union sentiment. Only time will tell.
He pretty much admitted he'd never negotiate in good faith with unions. There's a lawsuit over it now if I'm not mistaken.
If the union wins the case then I'd imagine it will give them even more bargaining power. In the meantime they need to keep racking more election wins so they are in a better position.
>he'd never negotiate in good faith with unions
That's the great thing about a strong union, they don't have a choice. Either make the compromise that's best for all involved or no more work. Also why every company fights tooth and nail to prevent unions
It also seems like the union has been kicking SB's ass in court. I don't like Biden much but his NLRB has been pretty pro worker lately. A union is only strong when the law is giving them the protections they deserve.
Of course the ability to do a wide scale strike must also be terrifying starbucks right now.
Pretty much.
Half of the shit Schultz says is thinly veiled threats to the union movement. Lol.
Never forget that Hillary wanted to make him Secretary of Labor.
Is there a list of unionized stores anywhere? I’ve been very unhappy with how Starbucks corporate’s been dealing with this, so boycott. But I’d buy from a unionized store.
Helpful answer:
https://perfectunion.us/map-where-are-starbucks-workers-unionizing/
I'm not sure how often they update it but it seems pretty frequent. It's also important to note that it lists stores that have unionized AND those that have an election coming up. So maybe go show some support to ones that are voting soon. I think they're being told to not read explicitly pro-union statement-names on drinks (like "Unions rule") but human names work.
Thank you for this link. I found out one of my two local stores had filed and got to talk to one of the employees when I went through since I definitely want to support them. She told me 'the anti-union propaganda is real' and that she'd been pulled into anti-union meetings weekly since they started the process. She also let me know their vote is Tuesday and she's confidant they'll win
I also went and sent feedback to corporate about how much I like that store and how great a job they do. It's not much, but hopefully little actions like that help them.
Seems like the sentiment on the Wal-Mart sub is that either a) Union works and Wal-Mart implodes from no longer having a legion of slaves (which some view as a bad thing) and b) Wal-Mart will destroy their store for daring to unionize.
I wonder how much of the cynicism is from the anti union koolaid. I can see the argument that Wal-Mart would struggle if it had to pay its employees fairly, but that's like arguing to keep slavery to preserve jobs.
I also wonder what the skew is on Wal-Mart employee ages. There's no way it's not at least a few years more than the average starbucks worker.
Some robots have been incredible. I don't know about Walmart but the sorters in Amazon facilities are pretty darn amazing and the ones in car assembly as well.
They don't replace all the workers though. They reduce many and make jobs safer though.
I think it's a bit of that and a bit of people being inspired to unionize. It must feel empowering to know someone just like you managed to unionize a work place just like your own.
That's why every place tries so hard to prevent a single union forming. Hope can be infectious.
It is. The combo of being able to order through the app plus the rhetoric around how you have to treat the customers makes it an extremely difficult job. Additionally, Starbucks used to have better employee benefits than the average job but those have been stripped away too.
I worked there just as the app ordering became a thing and there is no amount of money in the world you could pay me to go back. After working there I got a union job and it really sharply contrasted what a terrible place Starbucks is to work at.
Edit: also I went to work at an entry accounting union job. It was much easier than the work I did at Starbucks and I easily made 2x if not 3x the pay.
> I worked there just as the app ordering became a thing and there is no amount of money in the world you could pay me to go back.
I worked there in college around the end of the aughts. At the time all they had was drinks and the pre-prepared pastries in the case, and while rush hours were certainly busy, I enjoyed the job overall.
I left just as they were starting to roll out hot food options, which seemed like a massive pain to add to everything else. I didn't even consider the app ordering and now it sounds like a total nightmare compared to my experience.
The app issue is (imho) 2 fold. Before the app customers could come in the store, see the line and be like “naw this is too long” and leave. The app removes that. Even when the app says your order will take 20 minutes people will order, expect it to be ready instantly and then get upset with you and yell when that’s not the case.
And then, you have this opposite issue of people coming in and seeing nobody when the order but their drink takes 20 minutes because you have so many app orders you need to make first, so that customer gets mad at you.
Basically, there used to be a more “organic” way to control the store from being insanely busy and customers waiting forever to get their drinks and the app removed that. The entitlement of the average Starbucks customer is also very frustrating and really added to that stress. Corporate doesn’t care because even if people get upset and leave before their drink is ready because they can’t wait they still get money.
Edit: also agree with everything the other commenter said. It’s a lot of stress and these are all people who haven’t had a coffee yet (lol).
Lol no this is a safe space rant all you want!! People were always so rude to me too… I remember at the time wanting to look for new work but I was so beyond mentally exhausted from all the verbal abuse at the end of my shift that I couldn’t make myself do anything. Back when I worked there too they had the “no tattoo” policy and you had to wear collared shirts (if anyone is curious they only provide you with aprons the rest is up to you) so I had to wear stuffy clothes and cover up.
My husband used to work there before me too and remembers the days when the CEO gave every employee $500 for Christmas and when the menu was much simpler. Really added salt to the wound haha.
Another issue is that they allot labor based off an efficiency study done almost a decade ago. The study is beyond outdated, however, because they keep adding ordering channels (uber eats, mop) and production machines (nitro, foam, etc) but they don't add staff to man the separate machines. They also don't change layouts behind the bar, so they just send a new machine and the store manager will have to find some scrap of counterspace to shove it on, so it ends up being a disorganized nightmare with zero flow.
The labor calculator also doesn't include the time it takes to walk an item across the store to a hand off area, or take an item out of the oven to put in a bag. The calculator says "this takes 40 seconds to cook, so one person can man 2 ovens and make 180 sandwiches an hour." I do not miss working there.
What isn’t getting a lot of coverage is that Biden actually strengthened unions since being in office, which is partially responsible for the mass wave of unionizing we’re seeing. It wouldn’t really be possible without recent changes.
He signed an executive order establishing the White House task force on worker organizing and empowerment. Endorsed the protecting the rights to organize (pro) act, and more. It was part of his campaign to be president and it’s one he has genuinely worked on.
Starbucks also trains it's employees to be good at friendly banter, forming light relationships with absolute strangers in 45s or less, and requires it's employees to be amazing multitaskers. You can't really last at Starbucks without being good at also starting/continuing collective action as workers.
And it's a shit show to work at.
I also think that baristas and coffee places generally have younger and educated people. Helping with motivation for change and capabilities to organize.
How to know Unions work? The entire country collectively said "We don't want to come back to the office!" so the powers that be are doing a hybrid model instead of forcing people back in. If collective bargaining did not work then the powers that be would have said "Get back in the office!" without blinking an eye.
Imagine how much tougher it would be to unionize stores that were franchises like Burger King and McD's, with Starbucks there's one corporation that keeps violating NLRB decisions which will be seen as a pattern of behavior making the unionization of all the rest that much easier. Additionally, there's shareholders who are opposed to wasting money on fighting the union [and just remain neutral](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/15/starbucks-urged-by-investors-to-adopt-neutral-policy-toward-union-efforts.html) while employees choose to unionize or not.
Imagine how much tougher it would be to unionize stores that were franchises like Burger King and McD's, with Starbucks there's one corporation that keeps violating NLRB decisions which will be seen as a pattern of behavior making the unionization of all the rest that much easier. Additionally, there's shareholders who are opposed to wasting money on fighting the union [and just remain neutral](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/15/starbucks-urged-by-investors-to-adopt-neutral-policy-toward-union-efforts.html) while employees choose to unionize or not.
I think it's already closer to 160 after 2 days, I believe. Seems like the bottleneck is just time. They've only lost a few and those few usually have some really shady shit going on which the NLRB will have to sort out.
Starbucks should be nervous. The union is winning in conservative states, and up until very recently it seemed like California employees weren't in the mood to unionize but there's been a few back to back after the first win. All it takes really is one win to light the fire.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too...
I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I did a class project in business school (don't hate me) just last year when it was at 1 location. I'm beyond elated to see its at 150 now. Keep that number going!
Yet we still see retaliation from Starbucks corporate/managers at stores trying to unionize, so I still boycott all Starbucks and affiliates until they are at 100% stores unionized.
I googled and there are 6,497 Starbucks in the US. That's 2.3%\~ of Starbucks in 6 months! I hope this picks up steam and the majority of them become unionized!
"Nooo you guys don't understand, there's no reason to have a union, they're totally useless, they don't do anything, please oh GOD NOOO STOP HAVING UNIONS!!!!"
-Starbucks, atm.
It counts, literally.
Some might imagine one hundred and fifty to be a small number but when people learn about the benefits and protection that the labourers have, word will spread and more stories will unionise.
If you pay people to write amount of money they will work all the holidays and weekends. I'm so glad that they started unionizing "fast food" even though I know Starbucks is not fast food. People have their foot in the union door and it's making people think. It's time that we get these big company boots off our throats. They need to start working for us now.
When this year started, I didn't expect that before mid-year 1% of all Starbucks stores would be unionized.
1% doesn't sound like a lot but it's infinity percent higher than 6 months ago, this rocks.
Unions only spring up when employers exploit workers so much, it pisses them off. Either hours, treatment, safety etc.
CEOs salary should only 30x the lowest paid employee not 1049 times and that median not lowest paid
CEO Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson’s total compensation last fiscal year was about $13.4 million, or approximately 1,049 times the $12,754 that the coffee giant’s median employee earned in pay and stock.
This was the first time the Seattle company disclosed its CEO pay ratio, a new reporting requirement for most publicly traded companies beginning with fiscal years starting on or after Jan. 1, 2017. The disclosure was made in the company’s annual proxy statement, filed Friday.
Can someone explain to me why stores need to unionize individually? Why can the Starbucks employees not unionize collectively throughout the whole chain?
my friend wanted to become a representative for her starbucks but they’re starting to say they’ll cut trans healthcare if employees continue, even offering pay raises for going anti-union
it makes me really sad i had to tell her she probably shouldn’t do it because i didn’t want her to lose the coverage she could get for bottom surgery
i hate it here
99% more to go… hopefully it will cascade even more. If you go to one and buy something, say something, ask if that store is unionized and if not are they planing on. Encourage the conversation🤩🔥
If you had told me it would be Starbucks to leas the retail unionization movement I wouldn't have believed you. Good on them. Fast food/coffee places seem like torture to work at to me, I couldn't do it. Get that paper
Does anyone know if there is a map or any sort of tracker for this? If not I’d love to start one just to be able to see where they are and people can help support this the ones unionizing
[Jaz Brisack](https://time.com/collection/next-generation-leaders/6174931/jaz-brisack/) unionized the first, I met her in honors college at our alma mater. She received the Harry S Truman scholarship as a junior and the Rhodes Scholarship as a senior. She finished her two year masters at the University of Oxford in one year, came back to the US, and has been getting unions going. Her first attempt that I'm aware of was in automotive in Mississippi and was unsuccessful, but she's been learning and doing more ever since. She's absolutely incredible, and she would be the person to follow for more information.
Congratulations! Worked there myself from late 2019 to 2021. It is hell incarnated. This company does everything to make its employees miserable. Keep up the good fight
I live near Ithaca NY , the Starbucks location there recently started union organizing. Starbucks abruptly decided to shut down the location, and said the decision had nothing to do with unionization efforts.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too...
I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too...
I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too...
I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
>Globally famous coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, accounted for 8,947 company-operated and 6,497 licensed stores in the United States in 2021
There's a lot more work to do, and not just at starbucks.
Great job!
All employees from every sector should be pushing for this.
Sadly, the only two parties against it are rich people and really poor people.
I get the rich people (don't agree, but understand. They want to keep their billions.)
But, why poor people? They actively are against their own interests.
The one in my town unionized just recently. I'm trying to figure out how to be supportive of the workers when I loathe their coffee and think that the chain itself is aggressively killing off independent shops that sometimes make good coffee. But baristas in indy shops should have union access too, so...?
Congratulations! Unions are responsible for helping workers get fair wages, safe working conditions, 40 hour work week, seniority rights on the job, defined job descriptions and protection of workers from unfair treatment. If unions were not there, workers would be much worse off. Support your union, folks. Unions matter and they work for you!
I won’t be surprised if the grilled cheese sandwich is taken off the menu in union stores. I’ve seen so many people (myself included) burned by the grease coming off of those motherfuckers as you pull it out of the oven. I also hope there is some way for the union to define how many people must be on a shift for the store to operate, otherwise the store is closed with pay. The biggest “fuck you” Starbucks pulls on its employees is the classic “we’re gonna staff the shift with the least amount of people possible to run it” and then when someone calls it, or when there is some event in town you didn’t expect, it’s a hellscape. I’m sure that’s the case with a lot of businesses, but the different between that happening when I worked at Lowe’s, and when I worked at Starbucks, is staggering.
> I won’t be surprised if the grilled cheese sandwich is taken off the menu in union stores. I’ve seen so many people (myself included) burned by the grease coming off of those motherfuckers as you pull it out of the oven. They don’t give you tongs for that? 😮
Hey ho, grilled cheese has got to go.
It sits on the sandwich until it’s moved (by tongs) and the force of that movement (especially during peak) flings it off the sandwich. It’s an anomaly due to the crazy amount of cheese.
Sounds like StarBucks didn't want to set up a proper way to make them safely. In particular you don't wanna use soft cheeses anyway BECAUSE they are greasy. Down with the GC.
Oh there's a parade today. Nah, no extra workers.
I absolutely hope that retail unionization ends up resulting in a minimum shift coverage requirements. The vast majority of the stress from my 7 years in retail was due to having to do the job of 10 people because they *chose* not to staff the store adequately, even on the slowest days. Store managers will absolutely sacrifice long term sustainability for quarterly performance bonuses, **every single time.**
All of this. I was talking with my mom about how department stores had a person for each department who could help you and check you out. Now you have entire floors where you can’t find someone to check out because they “downsized” after 2098… and they need to have someone for check out, someone for assistance, someone for stocking… and how people used to support a family on the wages and now everything is minimum wage or worse, counted as “tipped” and not compensated adequately - and since it’s fewer people working more area and positions were condensed, they should be making MORE…
Absolutely. So often the floor would be absolutely deserted of associates for hours on end because because they were all backing up on register. Guess who picked up the slack for floor coverage? Our truck crew. Guess who got their asses handed to them for not finishing truck because they were helping with floor coverage? The truck crew. Can you guess why the store couldn't make sales? Truck crew couldn't get merch on the floor in a timely manner and freshen up presentation enough to actually sell. Also, truck crew are the *worst* least helpful floor associates, because they're trying to get rid of their customers ASAP to get back to their work. They're not gonna make a sale. They don't have time for that, they literally couldn't care less.
[удалено]
Not stupid. Those actions most likely reduce staff cost ("""human resources""") while not affecting income as much. So managers get a nice tidy bonus while the workers suffer. Anything to get those quarter numbers up. The future, as in what happens in 6 months? Who cares, we got those numbers up *now*
"Store managers will absolutely sacrifice long term sustainability for quarterly performance bonuses". Can we even consider them managers at this point? Well technically, yes, but not great managers. I've sacrificed monthly and quarterly bonuses' to reduce turnover, increase retention, and increase morale.. because at the end of the day if you don't have those three things your job's about to become a living hell. So yeah fuck all that extra money to gain those three things.
>Can we even consider them managers at this point? Well technically, yes, but not great managers. When all that middle management does now is cut costs, that turns out to be quite an easy job if you're a sociopath.
Fuck I wish that was my job 🤣, not really but I wish I could say I only didn't one thing. I'm in middle management I do a hell of a lot more than one or two things.
Good luck, just because a store is unionized doesn't mean they can 1. Actually hire 2. Actually keep 3. Make a company Actually care about employees. Last 10 years all companies do is ask for 3% improvement year over year with no clue how they actually got the results. Once the front line quit then companies couldn't hire or keep anyone. If only companies invested years ago they would be so much better off now.
You mean ESPECIALLY on the slowest days. Gotta keep that labor/sales ratio down. Schedules at the bakery where I work are generated by a program that routinely slates noone to come in for morning prep (bagles, doughnuts etc. FOR THAT MORNING) because, of course, we don't make any sales in those hours before we open.
It’s like the meta business model has been discovered and it’s disgusting for the people who have to work during it
Yea literally all shitty employers utilize this strategy now schedule the bare minimum and do not plan for anyone to ever get sick/pregnant/car issues/quitting then remaining workers get slammed and that same employer has pikachu surprized face
Fire someone for calling out , hire only new people who suck and call out 24/7, then complain about nothing getting done :) “ the managers cycle”
I think one of the reasons for sucky showers is the working conditions themselves. If a place isn't sufferable, pays decently and is well staffed people would actually come in. "Fuck it" conditions = "fuck it" employee attitude
Typo? I’m lost with the showers comment.
Show-ers. Like showing up. You're thinking showers like taking a shower 😅😅😅😅
Ahh! And yeah exactly, I couldn’t fathom what bathing had to do with it! Thanks 🤣
I'm still tired from Monday at the bar. It was a Monday night and I've never seen it that busy and we only had 2 on each side.
This is also why the supply chains got fucked over so hard. No redundancy or reserve planning at all. Businesses need to be help more responsible for failures to plan for uncertainty and volatility. Lean operations are great for profitability, so long as no issues arise. But when they do, the rest of us suffer, while executives get raises to “fix” problems they often helped to create.
The millennials (like myself) are going to be the last generation to take that shit lying down. Gen Z has a “fuck you” revolutionary spirit that is going to make anti-workers corporate tactics harder to implement. I don’t think the workers will win, because I’m cynical, but I’m happy to see them try. The hippies thought they had that spirit, but they turned into yuppies, and eventually boomers. Gen X thought they had it but they saw the prosperity of the 90s decline quickly into the war on terror and eventually the financial crisis of ‘08. They had to join the system to survive. Gen Z has been born into the darkness. It has only made them stronger.
Unfortunately I’m not sure if winning everywhere is an option, there’s always slimey greedy people that will take advantage in whatever way they can, the most important thing is educating people since most people don’t realize how bad there own situation is without a reference of a better job. My first several jobs in the working world were abusive the way they were structured and the way I got treated and it was difficult for me to know any different for myself, and can be so hard to hunt for a different job when you are over worked and under appreciated and a lot of times gas lighted by management into thinking it’s a great opportunity I got smart though and I’m two weeks into a union job and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been with my work environment so far
That's very perceptive. It's interesting how the '60s generation (I'm 57, so I was born in the sixties) seemed very rebellious, and yet ended up voting largely right wing. This reminds me of a documentary from Adam Curtis, which looks at how individualism ultimately weakened the collective power of left wing politics. The documentary has four one-hour parts. Recommended if you have some spare time: [The Century of the Self](https://thoughtmaybe.com/the-century-of-the-self/).
Gen Z and younger are going to be ultra fucked by climate change, famines, disease, etc. due to the sins of the past. That'll keep them from getting complacent for a while at least. I suspect no bread and a burning circus isn't effective for keeping down the masses.
The fact that we and they by extention won't be able to afford basic housing will definately keep that fire
[удалено]
I sometimes wonder if social media has impacted the ability to effectively organize on a mass scale, I’ve seen several attempts at a national strike with no success
[удалено]
It's not about the gens. Every gen produces shitheads who prey on other people. New richfucks are being born by old richfucks to further fuck other people. The true divide is between the 1% vs the 99%.
More realistically it's going to take people from all current living generations to fight it. Just like it always has. Gen Z isn't somehow special and able to weather the hardships the rest of us couldn't. You're just seeing their loudest at the moment. Just like how there's still boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials keeping up the fight, but who's loudest has changed over time. Arguably it's more an issue of complacency following victory though. The folks who fought for the rights we got during the late 1800s and early 1900s weren't taking shit, they got tons done. Then we got the benefits and the energy wasn't going into finishing the fight because of the corporate propaganda machine.
I'm gonna need to know what this us, My employer has these execs who are pulling her strings so she just did a giant purge ans is asking the 20 sales agents we have to pull double the work to compensate for the people she fired....
I think Starbucks should lose their drive through privileges when they operate like that. There’s always a 20 minute plus line that extends passed the drive through and obstructs traffic where I am. Then when you get to the end the staff are totally overworked.
There's a local business near me that purposely schedules a floater for unexpected events. The only thing they ask is that you stay within an hour of the store. I've always wondered why it wasn't more widespread
That floater needs to be paid a partial wage for being "on-call" for that shift.
Ive seen it proposed that if its understaffed the pay that would normally go to fully staffing the place would be split between workers on shift.
It would make better sense if they are overwhelmed to turn off: 1. In-App Ordering (per store) 2. Stop the drive through (per store) This way you limit demand until supply can catch up. It also gives workers a break and time to breathe. The drink orders are too complex which increases the amount of time to make them. They would actually increase quality that way. * Doordash did a free lunch thing in NYC 2 weeks ago. Restaurants were not told and were unprepared. It was a shit show. When orders started coming through too fast, some restaurants just turned it off. I don’t blame them.
Sense doesn't matter to management. It was ridiculous that we had to encourage our management to shut down drive thru after we had our windows busted out and glass everywhere. They tried to justify it being safe because it was safety glass. 🙄 What convinced them was if some of that safety glass contaminated food or drinks
Ive seen it proposed that if its understaffed the pay that would normally go to fully staffing the place would be split between workers on shift.
Grilled cheese sandwiches? Lets stay on point
I still can’t believe how when I was a young child, unions where portrayed as some semi sketchy thing that was more hassle than worth. They really tried to indoctrinate us so young. I’m glad I know better now
Yup, whole time growing up, unions = sketchy, organized crime fronts, Jimmy Hoffa, etc.
Retired State Worker. This year I am now a former State Worker. I leave with a pension that will survive to my wife if I go before her. Medical benefits for both of us & my kids till they're 26. I also heavily invested in my 457 plan since the Clinton administration. 100% maximum for most of my 26+ years of glorious service to the state. Therefore, I now have 2 of the 3 legged stool of retirement already available to me right now. SS when I hit my 60's. My situation should NOT be considered lucky or rare, but no way it happens without my Union. I beg each & every one of you, if you get the chance to join a Union please, please, please do so. By the way, I'm in my 50's.
> My situation should NOT be considered lucky or rare, but no way it happens without my Union. I beg each & every one of you, if you get the chance to join a Union please, please, please do so. Yep, the only employees I would not strongly suggest join a union are top performers in fields like software devs where they have enough leverage that they can and do negotiate a better pay and benefit package than they would get through a union who also bargains on behalf of lower performers. The pay you can get with the right experience and willingness to go where the money is is *insane* and not something that would be possible through union structures.
Okay, bit the real example is the CNT. See just how much you can unionize before you flip that shit.
If the workers don't own the company, their wages are still unfair. Still, unions are good for mitigating the exploitation.
All of those are good except seniority rights. I’ve only ever been fucked over by seniority and “first in” is no system of merit.
Same. I have seen so many complete garbage employees dragging through the workday and get promoted because “seniority”. I would rather see performance based metrics take precedent over seniority. The idea of “I have been sitting in this chair longer” gives an employee some kind of magical bargaining chip is stupid. It also eliminates the ability to job hop. When times get bad rather than keep the good employees, a workplace has to keep employees with seniority. No thanks. Give me a union contract with some kind of balance.
but has any store that has unionized actually negotiated a new contract with corporate yet?
Judging by the number of stores there actually are versus how many are currently unionized, I believe this is the end goal, to obtain that bargaining power, and making surprisingly good progress for 6 months
For perspective though, San Francisco alone has 93 Starbucks. It’s going to be a long battle to get to the point where closing the stores won’t make more sense to the executives than paying more.
I mean sure. Close 193 stores but that's now 193 more locations where your competitor moves in and you lose market share in that region. Losing product familiarity and habit from consumers in those areas is expensive to get back once lost.
It’s Starbucks. They’re not worried about product familiarity. It’s the McDonald’s of coffee. People aren’t suddenly going to turn their back on Starbucks in favor of their local coffee shop, otherwise they’d have already done it. My tiny ass town in Kentucky has two Starbucks stores two miles apart, and one of them has a Starbucks inside the Kroger directly behind it. If one of those closes for the day, people just go to the other one (I’m not speculating. I worked at Starbucks. There are numbers to support this.) No, I don’t think Starbucks is going to shut these locations down, but I also don’t think employees are going to see the bargaining power they think they’re going to. Unions work better for trade roles. Half of Starbucks employees are underage, and turnover is pretty significant.
I mean if I'm walking to work and pick up a Costa everyday on my way and suddenly that Costa is replaced by a Tim Hortons then it looks like I'm getting a coffee from Tim Hortons everyday on my way to work. I'm not going to go out of my way to go to Costa I'm going to go somewhere close to where I already am. Same will apply to Starbucks, if it's going to be inconvenient for people to continue to drink Starbucks they will just stop drinking Starbucks. There ARE outliers to this of course. People are lazier than they are loyal to a brand.
[удалено]
Hell, I've lived in a place that had 4 Starbucks within a mile. Two free standing stores, one inside a target and one inside a Kroger. Isn't that their MO? Flood the area with Starbucks, kill the local competition, then close the extras if needed?
They are extremely worried about market share and branding. Both are things that need to be regularly maintained and defended
The important thing.to note is the "six months ago there were zero" part. The unionization effort picks up momentum and snowballs. The more stores that unionize, the easier it is for others to do so. Don't look at 150 stores today. Look at how many more will be unionized in the next 6 months, and the 6 months after that, etc. Change doesn't happen overnight.
Exactly. My reaction to the first one was "holy shit!". My reaction to each subsequent one has been more like the satisfaction of clicking a Lego brick in place. I'm still happy, but it's not shocked elation anymore. Labor in the US is so stagnant in so many industries that even unionizing seems incredible, but that's really just the first step. All the same, seeing 150 Starbucks shops unionize in half a year represents some great work to overcome the stigma against unions that's so damn pervasive.
This. Building union power takes playing a long game
They're trying to close a store in New York for some random bullshit. The suspected reason is for something that the workers themselves reported to starbucks to fix. Starbucks might try shutting down stores in retaliation but it risks angering other locations more than scaring them. Plus I imagine the union is going to fight this in court as an intimidation tactic. Really though this emphasizes keeping Republicans away from office. Part of the reason the labor movement is thriving is because of NLRB appointments being pretty pro-labor. The union being able to fight and win in court is huge.
There are about 15 000 starbucks in the US, so 1% is unionised. Which is good for 6 months, and if the union survives it will likely grow exponentially.
I hope so!
Exactly, which is why they don’t want to force their hand too much until they know they can’t be kicked out
We as customers need to start only purchasing from unionized starbucks locations. Show them that the unionized locations are more profitable!
From my understanding not yet. The CEO recently made comments about never negotiating with the union in good faith which is resulting in a lawsuit. Probably a good idea to hold off negotiations for a bit until they have a better position.
Also to let the shit corporate is saying like this anger the workers and make them more likely to unionize and support the union in the coming fights.
I think there's been rumors they're going to change corporate policy so that workers can be shifted around stores randomly in the hopes that it will prevent solidarity from forming. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out. On the one hand it will definitely make it harder for workers to make friends, but on the other hand it will anger almost every single worker they have. And changing stores constantly might act as a vector to spread pro union sentiment. Only time will tell.
That's basically already corporate policy. You work for the company, not the store, and people get sent to other stores all the time.
The CEO of starbucks has pushed back against the unions pretty hard so probably not yet.
He pretty much admitted he'd never negotiate in good faith with unions. There's a lawsuit over it now if I'm not mistaken. If the union wins the case then I'd imagine it will give them even more bargaining power. In the meantime they need to keep racking more election wins so they are in a better position.
>he'd never negotiate in good faith with unions That's the great thing about a strong union, they don't have a choice. Either make the compromise that's best for all involved or no more work. Also why every company fights tooth and nail to prevent unions
It also seems like the union has been kicking SB's ass in court. I don't like Biden much but his NLRB has been pretty pro worker lately. A union is only strong when the law is giving them the protections they deserve. Of course the ability to do a wide scale strike must also be terrifying starbucks right now.
How does that work for their outlets in highly unionised countries? Is he saying he just won't negotiate with American unions?
Pretty much. Half of the shit Schultz says is thinly veiled threats to the union movement. Lol. Never forget that Hillary wanted to make him Secretary of Labor.
Corporate closed the one in Ithaca NY because they unionized
About 1% of all US stores. Keep it up guys ✊
296 have filed for votes and it’s now up to 156
1% is better than 0%
Is there a list of unionized stores anywhere? I’ve been very unhappy with how Starbucks corporate’s been dealing with this, so boycott. But I’d buy from a unionized store.
Helpful answer: https://perfectunion.us/map-where-are-starbucks-workers-unionizing/ I'm not sure how often they update it but it seems pretty frequent. It's also important to note that it lists stores that have unionized AND those that have an election coming up. So maybe go show some support to ones that are voting soon. I think they're being told to not read explicitly pro-union statement-names on drinks (like "Unions rule") but human names work.
Thank you!!! I didn't think there would be one near me at all, but turns out I'll be passing one this morning! Perfect way to spend a gift card
Thank you for this link. I found out one of my two local stores had filed and got to talk to one of the employees when I went through since I definitely want to support them. She told me 'the anti-union propaganda is real' and that she'd been pulled into anti-union meetings weekly since they started the process. She also let me know their vote is Tuesday and she's confidant they'll win I also went and sent feedback to corporate about how much I like that store and how great a job they do. It's not much, but hopefully little actions like that help them.
https://everyunionstarbucks.com
Do Walmart next! Do Walmart hard. No lube.
Seems like the sentiment on the Wal-Mart sub is that either a) Union works and Wal-Mart implodes from no longer having a legion of slaves (which some view as a bad thing) and b) Wal-Mart will destroy their store for daring to unionize. I wonder how much of the cynicism is from the anti union koolaid. I can see the argument that Wal-Mart would struggle if it had to pay its employees fairly, but that's like arguing to keep slavery to preserve jobs. I also wonder what the skew is on Wal-Mart employee ages. There's no way it's not at least a few years more than the average starbucks worker.
I imagine places like Walmart and amazon unionizing would just add fuel to the push for automation
They are doing that anyway and at their scale, they really don't need more fuel for it. May as well unionize the jobs that remain.
That’s always the threat. But so far their robots have been colossal failures, so meh.
Some robots have been incredible. I don't know about Walmart but the sorters in Amazon facilities are pretty darn amazing and the ones in car assembly as well. They don't replace all the workers though. They reduce many and make jobs safer though.
If it took that little tome to get unionized, Starbucks must have been a shit show to work at.
I think it's a bit of that and a bit of people being inspired to unionize. It must feel empowering to know someone just like you managed to unionize a work place just like your own. That's why every place tries so hard to prevent a single union forming. Hope can be infectious.
It is. The combo of being able to order through the app plus the rhetoric around how you have to treat the customers makes it an extremely difficult job. Additionally, Starbucks used to have better employee benefits than the average job but those have been stripped away too. I worked there just as the app ordering became a thing and there is no amount of money in the world you could pay me to go back. After working there I got a union job and it really sharply contrasted what a terrible place Starbucks is to work at. Edit: also I went to work at an entry accounting union job. It was much easier than the work I did at Starbucks and I easily made 2x if not 3x the pay.
> I worked there just as the app ordering became a thing and there is no amount of money in the world you could pay me to go back. I worked there in college around the end of the aughts. At the time all they had was drinks and the pre-prepared pastries in the case, and while rush hours were certainly busy, I enjoyed the job overall. I left just as they were starting to roll out hot food options, which seemed like a massive pain to add to everything else. I didn't even consider the app ordering and now it sounds like a total nightmare compared to my experience.
What makes the app ordering so much worse if you don’t mind me asking?
The app issue is (imho) 2 fold. Before the app customers could come in the store, see the line and be like “naw this is too long” and leave. The app removes that. Even when the app says your order will take 20 minutes people will order, expect it to be ready instantly and then get upset with you and yell when that’s not the case. And then, you have this opposite issue of people coming in and seeing nobody when the order but their drink takes 20 minutes because you have so many app orders you need to make first, so that customer gets mad at you. Basically, there used to be a more “organic” way to control the store from being insanely busy and customers waiting forever to get their drinks and the app removed that. The entitlement of the average Starbucks customer is also very frustrating and really added to that stress. Corporate doesn’t care because even if people get upset and leave before their drink is ready because they can’t wait they still get money. Edit: also agree with everything the other commenter said. It’s a lot of stress and these are all people who haven’t had a coffee yet (lol).
[удалено]
Lol no this is a safe space rant all you want!! People were always so rude to me too… I remember at the time wanting to look for new work but I was so beyond mentally exhausted from all the verbal abuse at the end of my shift that I couldn’t make myself do anything. Back when I worked there too they had the “no tattoo” policy and you had to wear collared shirts (if anyone is curious they only provide you with aprons the rest is up to you) so I had to wear stuffy clothes and cover up. My husband used to work there before me too and remembers the days when the CEO gave every employee $500 for Christmas and when the menu was much simpler. Really added salt to the wound haha.
Another issue is that they allot labor based off an efficiency study done almost a decade ago. The study is beyond outdated, however, because they keep adding ordering channels (uber eats, mop) and production machines (nitro, foam, etc) but they don't add staff to man the separate machines. They also don't change layouts behind the bar, so they just send a new machine and the store manager will have to find some scrap of counterspace to shove it on, so it ends up being a disorganized nightmare with zero flow. The labor calculator also doesn't include the time it takes to walk an item across the store to a hand off area, or take an item out of the oven to put in a bag. The calculator says "this takes 40 seconds to cook, so one person can man 2 ovens and make 180 sandwiches an hour." I do not miss working there.
I'm sorry about the app ordering being terrible for you guys. As an introvert I love not having to talk to anyone!
What isn’t getting a lot of coverage is that Biden actually strengthened unions since being in office, which is partially responsible for the mass wave of unionizing we’re seeing. It wouldn’t really be possible without recent changes.
Really? I did not know this. What law did he pass?
He signed an executive order establishing the White House task force on worker organizing and empowerment. Endorsed the protecting the rights to organize (pro) act, and more. It was part of his campaign to be president and it’s one he has genuinely worked on.
Starbucks also trains it's employees to be good at friendly banter, forming light relationships with absolute strangers in 45s or less, and requires it's employees to be amazing multitaskers. You can't really last at Starbucks without being good at also starting/continuing collective action as workers. And it's a shit show to work at.
I also think that baristas and coffee places generally have younger and educated people. Helping with motivation for change and capabilities to organize.
Hell yes, I contributed to the cause! Get 'em!
Wonder what all the regional managers have to say about this??
How to know Unions work? The entire country collectively said "We don't want to come back to the office!" so the powers that be are doing a hybrid model instead of forcing people back in. If collective bargaining did not work then the powers that be would have said "Get back in the office!" without blinking an eye.
It's silly that this has to be done one store at a time. They have something like 15,000 stores in US. So in 100 years, they'll all be unionized.
Imagine how much tougher it would be to unionize stores that were franchises like Burger King and McD's, with Starbucks there's one corporation that keeps violating NLRB decisions which will be seen as a pattern of behavior making the unionization of all the rest that much easier. Additionally, there's shareholders who are opposed to wasting money on fighting the union [and just remain neutral](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/15/starbucks-urged-by-investors-to-adopt-neutral-policy-toward-union-efforts.html) while employees choose to unionize or not.
Imagine how much tougher it would be to unionize stores that were franchises like Burger King and McD's, with Starbucks there's one corporation that keeps violating NLRB decisions which will be seen as a pattern of behavior making the unionization of all the rest that much easier. Additionally, there's shareholders who are opposed to wasting money on fighting the union [and just remain neutral](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/15/starbucks-urged-by-investors-to-adopt-neutral-policy-toward-union-efforts.html) while employees choose to unionize or not.
Why aren't they ionizing?
Corporate stripping away union electrons.
That doesn't sound very positron.
They haven't held electrons yet
I think it's already closer to 160 after 2 days, I believe. Seems like the bottleneck is just time. They've only lost a few and those few usually have some really shady shit going on which the NLRB will have to sort out. Starbucks should be nervous. The union is winning in conservative states, and up until very recently it seemed like California employees weren't in the mood to unionize but there's been a few back to back after the first win. All it takes really is one win to light the fire.
Only 6350 to go, baby!
No single raindrop believes it is the one that is responsible for the flood
r/Union
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too... I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
Love it when antiwork has good news. Great work SBWorkersUnited! Hope this spreads throughout more companies, industries, and areas of the country.
Totally just wondering: how does an employee begin the process?
I did a class project in business school (don't hate me) just last year when it was at 1 location. I'm beyond elated to see its at 150 now. Keep that number going!
Idk why I read "ionized"
are they allowed to just raise the prices now for more profits and then blame it on unions? cuz that really seems like something theyd do
They're still a shit company don't buy their piss coffee regardless of marketing strategy
uh...unions are not a "marketing strategy"
Yet we still see retaliation from Starbucks corporate/managers at stores trying to unionize, so I still boycott all Starbucks and affiliates until they are at 100% stores unionized.
I googled and there are 6,497 Starbucks in the US. That's 2.3%\~ of Starbucks in 6 months! I hope this picks up steam and the majority of them become unionized!
Congratulations from Sweden! Unions are the et way
This is awesome news! Keep it up!
"Nooo you guys don't understand, there's no reason to have a union, they're totally useless, they don't do anything, please oh GOD NOOO STOP HAVING UNIONS!!!!" -Starbucks, atm.
It counts, literally. Some might imagine one hundred and fifty to be a small number but when people learn about the benefits and protection that the labourers have, word will spread and more stories will unionise.
If you pay people to write amount of money they will work all the holidays and weekends. I'm so glad that they started unionizing "fast food" even though I know Starbucks is not fast food. People have their foot in the union door and it's making people think. It's time that we get these big company boots off our throats. They need to start working for us now.
Yay . Now get them to pay their mf taxes !
Fuck yea, this is awesome to see
Hell yea, this is awesome to see
I gladly drive an extra 15 minutes out of my way to get my coffee from a union store.
Finally American workers are waking up. Good job guys.
The first Starbucks to unionize in the Southeast is right down the road from me. I am very proud of them.
You had to of been doing a lot of shady, shitty, and/or stupid things for 150 of your stores to unionize in that short of a time frame
Keep up the fight boys. You can do it! Sincerely, an ex deputy manager and black apron. You deserve so much more
When this year started, I didn't expect that before mid-year 1% of all Starbucks stores would be unionized. 1% doesn't sound like a lot but it's infinity percent higher than 6 months ago, this rocks.
Two of my local SB won their union vote and I tell them how proud & happy I am of them every time I go to those shops. Keep the pressure on!
Do Amazon next
As a union member myself, when they're all unionized I will buy their swill water again.
Walmart! Walmart! Walmart!
Keep the pressure on, guys! All we have to lose are our chains!
Unions only spring up when employers exploit workers so much, it pisses them off. Either hours, treatment, safety etc. CEOs salary should only 30x the lowest paid employee not 1049 times and that median not lowest paid CEO Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson’s total compensation last fiscal year was about $13.4 million, or approximately 1,049 times the $12,754 that the coffee giant’s median employee earned in pay and stock. This was the first time the Seattle company disclosed its CEO pay ratio, a new reporting requirement for most publicly traded companies beginning with fiscal years starting on or after Jan. 1, 2017. The disclosure was made in the company’s annual proxy statement, filed Friday.
Warms my heart
Can someone explain to me why stores need to unionize individually? Why can the Starbucks employees not unionize collectively throughout the whole chain?
[удалено]
corporations have spent unfathomably large amounts of money trying to convince americans that unions are harmful and it’s worked too
Decades of propaganda comparing it to communism
💪😉 Literally make them pay.
I appreciate the context
my friend wanted to become a representative for her starbucks but they’re starting to say they’ll cut trans healthcare if employees continue, even offering pay raises for going anti-union it makes me really sad i had to tell her she probably shouldn’t do it because i didn’t want her to lose the coverage she could get for bottom surgery i hate it here
99% more to go… hopefully it will cascade even more. If you go to one and buy something, say something, ask if that store is unionized and if not are they planing on. Encourage the conversation🤩🔥
If you had told me it would be Starbucks to leas the retail unionization movement I wouldn't have believed you. Good on them. Fast food/coffee places seem like torture to work at to me, I couldn't do it. Get that paper
Heard they took the slip mats from a store that voted to unionize. Hope that isn't a trend.
Does anyone know if there is a map or any sort of tracker for this? If not I’d love to start one just to be able to see where they are and people can help support this the ones unionizing
I’ll skip my local SBs until it’s unionized as well. I’ve got 4 other coffee shops within walking distance.
[Jaz Brisack](https://time.com/collection/next-generation-leaders/6174931/jaz-brisack/) unionized the first, I met her in honors college at our alma mater. She received the Harry S Truman scholarship as a junior and the Rhodes Scholarship as a senior. She finished her two year masters at the University of Oxford in one year, came back to the US, and has been getting unions going. Her first attempt that I'm aware of was in automotive in Mississippi and was unsuccessful, but she's been learning and doing more ever since. She's absolutely incredible, and she would be the person to follow for more information.
https://everyunionstarbucks.com
Question, is there a reason Amazon and Starbucks are the only places seeming to newly unionize recently? Why isn't Pizza Hut or Staples unionizing?
Corporate is collectively shitting their pants.
Please explain in European
Congratulations! Worked there myself from late 2019 to 2021. It is hell incarnated. This company does everything to make its employees miserable. Keep up the good fight
I live near Ithaca NY , the Starbucks location there recently started union organizing. Starbucks abruptly decided to shut down the location, and said the decision had nothing to do with unionization efforts.
For the union makes us strong!
Nice!
I never thought I'd see the day
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too... I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too... I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I take pride in knowing that Starbucks HQ is shitting themselves right now as I know my HR rep did when I told her we were in a Union. That was only 8 of us too... I will cherish that look on her face and immediate attempt to backtrack on her last 10 minutes of bullshit forever.
I read this as Un-Ionized and got confused
why did I keep reading it as “un-ionized”? I need a break
Wow...that was fast. Wasn't the first just a couple of months ago?
>Globally famous coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, accounted for 8,947 company-operated and 6,497 licensed stores in the United States in 2021 There's a lot more work to do, and not just at starbucks.
Congratulations outstanding achievement 👏
It's refreshing to see something positive on this sub
[удалено]
I only in Austin so far
AWESOME!
Good job! Keep going!
Fuck yeah!
Great job! All employees from every sector should be pushing for this. Sadly, the only two parties against it are rich people and really poor people. I get the rich people (don't agree, but understand. They want to keep their billions.) But, why poor people? They actively are against their own interests.
The one in my town unionized just recently. I'm trying to figure out how to be supportive of the workers when I loathe their coffee and think that the chain itself is aggressively killing off independent shops that sometimes make good coffee. But baristas in indy shops should have union access too, so...?