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5/23/04

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AlHooter

AlHooter

Toronto, ON
September 2003

MAY 19, 2004 02:00 PM

In an email newsletter from The Industrial Workers of The World IWW members were informed that New York City Starbucks workers have submitted union cards to the NLRB for a certification election. This would be the first Starbucks Baristas certified union in the country.

New York, NY- Starbucks workers here have organized a
union with the Industrial Workers of the World IU/660
and have submitted union cards today to the NLRB for a
certification election. The workers are poised to
become the first Starbucks Baristas union certified in
the country. Starbucks Baristas at the 36th and
Madison location in Midtown Manhattan have come
together in an effort to raise themselves out of
poverty as well as to achieve respect and dignity on
the job. The workers are calling on Starbucks to obey
the law as the election approaches.

"Behind the green aprons and smiles are individuals
living in serious poverty," said Daniel Gross, a
worker at the store. "Baristas are the cornerstone of
a Starbucks coffee shop, we just deserve better.
Starbucks cashes in on a community friendly image but
it certainly doesn't extend to their workers or coffee
farmers. That's why we went Union."

Starbucks is a $15 billion company with over 7,500
locations around the world, but workers have most
emphatically not shared in their success. In New York
City with one of the highest costs of living in the
world, Starbucks workers start at $7.75 an hour and
eventually receive raises amounting to merely a few
cents. Starbucks has also developed a scheme whereby
all Baristas work on a part-time basis and are not
guaranteed any amount of hours per week thus making it
exceedingly difficult for workers to budget for
necessities like rent, utilities, and food.

"I come to work and I work hard," said Maureen
Medianero, 23, who has worked at Starbucks for almost
2 years. "But I'm still hanging on by a shoe string
not knowing if I can make ends meet to support my
daughter. It's frightening."

Although Starbuck workers serve an enormous volume of
beverages, many of them extremely hot, in order to
save money management refuses to schedule enough
workers to do the required work safely. Instead,
workers are forced to perform their duties at unsafe
speeds with an undue level of physical exertion.

"A Starbucks coffee shop is an ergonomic minefield.
The stores are supposed to mimic an Italian cafe
without considering the uncomfortable bending and
reaching we have to do," explained Barista Anthony
Polanco. "This isn't your mom and pop coffee shop,
we're talking McDonald's busy every day. Starbucks
talks about 'Creating Warmth' but the only warmth I
feel is the heat pad at the end of the day."

rottenart

rottenart

Norman, OK
February 2004

MAY 19, 2004 02:15 PM

YEAH! workers of the world UNITE!!!!

Michael_DeSade

Michael_DeSade

Seattle, WA
OLD SKOOL

MAY 19, 2004 02:18 PM

Great, now I'll be paying twelve bucks for a cup of coffee.
ARRR!!!

[Edited on May 19, 2004 by Sadistic_Bastard]

rottenart

rottenart

Norman, OK
February 2004

MAY 19, 2004 02:20 PM

aww. you know, they DO make the stuff that you can make at home for much, much less...

wink

clara

clara

MODERATOR

Baltimore, MD

MAY 19, 2004 02:24 PM

I worked at Starbucks for a few years after high school and I have to say they were one of the best retail kind of employers there were at the time. The pay was not even close to what white collar workers received, but it was much better than most similar places and they offered health benefits (even to part-time employees), profit sharing, 401(k), and paid time off. We also never had a problem with receiving reduced hours. I'm not sure if this means corporate policy has changed or if these stores in New York simply have poor management at the store level.

iamblades2

iamblades2

Louisville, KY
April 2004

MAY 19, 2004 02:24 PM

Will be interesting to see how it turns out, but I doubt it'll get far. It is historically dificult to unionize low skill/non skilled jobs. The available pool of labor is just too large to control.

prnkstrss

prnkstrss

Portland, OR
February 2003

MAY 19, 2004 03:44 PM

Wobblies wobble but they don't fall down wink

smile

prnkstrss

prnkstrss

Portland, OR
February 2003

MAY 19, 2004 03:49 PM

iamblades2 said:
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, but I doubt it'll get far. It is historically dificult to unionize low skill/non skilled jobs. The available pool of labor is just too large to control.




You mean like Farm Workers?

jnthn

jnthn

New York, NY
October 2002

MAY 19, 2004 04:43 PM

Sadistic_Bastard said:
Great, now I'll be paying twelve bucks for a cup of coffee.
ARRR!!!

[Edited on May 19, 2004 by Sadistic_Bastard]



yeah, if you keep going to starbucks.

YAWG

YAWG

Victoria, BC
November 2003

MAY 19, 2004 04:43 PM

iamblades2 said:
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, but I doubt it'll get far. It is historically dificult to unionize low skill/non skilled jobs. The available pool of labor is just too large to control.



I'm not sure I agree with that. Most of the workers who unionized in the first part of the 20th century were factory and manual workers. Not exactly highly skilled professions.
I imagine that Starbucks is like most franchises. It depends on where you work as to how you get treated and what the pay and benifits are. I think it's great that the employees are standing up and not being taken advantage of.

bpatrick

bpatrick

Tampa, FL
March 2004

MAY 19, 2004 05:05 PM

I agree with unionizing Starbucks employees and I'm co-owner of a store.I never realized how bad a corporation Starbucks was until I bought a share of the store-it was one of the worst mistakes I've ever made.
I inherited some money from my grandfather and went to a financial advisor,who advised me to buy into a Starbucks because they rarely lose money.That is true but they control their franchises with an iron fist.Like the article states,they dictate what we can pay employees and how many hours a week we can have them work-it's in the franchise contract.On top of that,Starbucks customers have to be some of the most arrogant people I've met.I've had coffee thrown at me,been cursed at,when I see someone treat an employee bad I givve them their money back and send em on their way.I cant wait until I can get out of that contract and invest in a more socially-conscious business.Unionizing might be the kick in the *ss Starbucks needs!!

Peerced

peerced

New York, NY
January 2004

MAY 19, 2004 05:06 PM

Sadistic_Bastard said:
Great, now I'll be paying twelve bucks for a cup of coffee.
ARRR!!!

[Edited on May 19, 2004 by Sadistic_Bastard]



listen if you are drinking starbucks coffee,you shouldnt worry about how much your spending.be it 6 bucks or twelve,you obviously arent very fruggle..its a fucking cup of coffee...i say good for them...let them exercise their constitutional right to organize.i dont think that people that serve coffee should be paid much better then the 7.50 or so they are getting now...but their raises should be better,and the company should not be juggling peoples hours,just so that they can avoid adgering to the law to provide benefits to them,once they reach full time hours!
good for them

[Edited on May 19, 2004 5:07PM]

Muzencab

Muzencab

Federal Way, WA
November 2003

MAY 19, 2004 05:10 PM

Sadistic_Bastard said:
Great, now I'll be paying twelve bucks for a cup of coffee.
ARRR!!!

[Edited on May 19, 2004 by Sadistic_Bastard]




No, the workers will just get some of the profit. How much does it cost to make a cup of fancy smancy coffee? about 50-75 cents.

$12 my ass, where did you get your economic know how?

Peerced

peerced

New York, NY
January 2004

MAY 19, 2004 05:12 PM

lets not undervalue the skills associated with blue collar workers..factory workers and "manual workers"
do in fact possess some very marketable skills.i sincerly doubt that many people could grab a hammer and a few nails and build a worthwhile table.servers at restaurants,and cashiers and such are in fact a redundant job that could be performed by a vast majority of people,but lets not confuse those jobs with those of "manual labor" and factory workers...they build cars in factories,and i know i dont know shit about building cars


YAWG said:

iamblades2 said:
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, but I doubt it'll get far. It is historically dificult to unionize low skill/non skilled jobs. The available pool of labor is just too large to control.



I'm not sure I agree with that. Most of the workers who unionized in the first part of the 20th century were factory and manual workers. Not exactly highly skilled professions.
I imagine that Starbucks is like most franchises. It depends on where you work as to how you get treated and what the pay and benifits are. I think it's great that the employees are standing up and not being taken advantage of.



Muzencab

Muzencab

Federal Way, WA
November 2003

MAY 19, 2004 05:14 PM

Has anybody seen fight club?

Think aboot it.

BoxOfficePoison

BoxOfficePoison

Portland, OR
June 2003

MAY 19, 2004 05:15 PM

6 years too late for me, but god I hated working Starbucks, only retail I've ever done though.

clara

clara

MODERATOR

Baltimore, MD

MAY 19, 2004 05:34 PM

YAWG said:
...Starbucks is like most franchises...


Unless something has changed, Starbucks is not a franchise in the US, it's all corporate owned.

RubberSoul

RubberSoul

Los Angeles, CA
February 2003

MAY 19, 2004 05:41 PM

Clara said:

YAWG said:
...Starbucks is like most franchises...


Unless something has changed, Starbucks is not a franchise in the US, it's all corporate owned.



You're right. That's a core component of the Starbucks business model.

s5

s5

STAFF

San Francisco, CA

MAY 19, 2004 05:50 PM

i recently overheard someone on the street tell her friend she wanted to "go get a starbucks". that's when it clicked: starbucks doesn't sell coffee, they sell "starbuckses". it's an entirely different beverage. usually when you walk into a cafe, you can smell the beautiful aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans. but at starbucks, you smell wet cardboard and industrial cleaning products.

it sounds like the workers have decent conditions, at least. maybe they can go on strike for better beans.

iamblades2

iamblades2

Louisville, KY
April 2004

MAY 19, 2004 06:00 PM

s5 said:
i recently overheard someone on the street tell her friend she wanted to "go get a starbucks". that's when it clicked: starbucks doesn't sell coffee, they sell "starbuckses". it's an entirely different beverage. usually when you walk into a cafe, you can smell the beautiful aroma of freshly roasted coffee beans. but at starbucks, you smell wet cardboard and industrial cleaning products.

it sounds like the workers have decent conditions, at least. maybe they can go on strike for better beans.



It reminds me of Denis Leary's tirade about coffee.

Hazelnut crunch?

hehehe

SoEffinHappy

SoEffinHappy

Philadelphia, PA
April 2003

MAY 19, 2004 09:45 PM

iamblades2 said:
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, but I doubt it'll get far. It is historically dificult to unionize low skill/non skilled jobs. The available pool of labor is just too large to control.



Most grocery store employeees are unionized. That's about as low skill as you can get.

WhiteVoodoo

WhiteVoodoo

Waterford, MI
July 2003

MAY 19, 2004 10:37 PM

Hammersmith

Hammersmith

Boston, MA
December 2003

MAY 19, 2004 10:43 PM

Yay! Now I can be confident knowing that the person handing me my cup of coffee is being treated justly and fairly. Screw the person who grew the coffee and got paid 3 bucks a day. I wanna make sure that my fellow college student is being treated fairly.

In all seriousness though, I'm glad for the single father who works at the Starbucks next to my school to support his daughter.

NimChimpsky

NimChimpsky

Oakland, CA
March 2004

MAY 19, 2004 11:39 PM

this is great. and the Wobblies, of all unions! fuck yeah!

Now if Starbucks would make the total switch to fair trade coffee, it would be even better.

bbkaro

bbkaro

Sacramento, CA
April 2003

MAY 20, 2004 01:35 AM

Yay for Starbucks and its employees. I was just commenting not fewer than 24 hours ago... in my journal no less... about how much I loved Starbucks. Now there's more to love.

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