Starbucks union announces strike to last through Christmas Eve in 3 major cities

[ThatRobGuy]

If Starbucks plays this well the union is toast.

And like I mentioned before, what sets this apart from other strikes is that the service being offered is something that a person could replicate relatively easily at home.

Paying $5+tip to have someone else make and pour a person's coffee for them is the ultimate "yeah, I could do without that for a while" sort of service.

It's not the same as even a full-service restaurant where, even though I could technically prepare a dinner with 3 fancy sides and a dessert if I REALLY wanted to, the effort trade-off is much bigger...we're talking about hours of effort and prep there. (I can make my own coffee and put it in a travel mug in under 5 minutes)

Or like a necessity-based service, like a sanitation workers strike, where I couldn't even tell you where the nearest dump is, much less be able to fit 5 bags of garbage in my car and drive it there. (Nor would I want my car to reek of garbage for the next two weeks even if I could fit it in there).


I would say union leverage is two-faceted. There's "labor vs. management" and there's "labor vs. consumer market", I think they need to have a decent amount of leverage in both facets in order to get the kind of results they're looking for. They *might* have a little of the former in this instance, but they don't have much of the latter.



Certain industries just don't lend themselves well to having that type of leverage. The elevator operator's union (right around the time the push-button automated elevator came out) comes to mind or the Doorman's union comes to mind. "Unless we get what we want, we're striking" "Oh, you mean I have to push my own buttons and/or open a door for myself -- like 99% of the population already does?"

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Here's another wrinkle and I almost made a bold prediction the other day about the odds of this happening... I guess I should have because I would've been right.

Some other activism forms have started using this strike to glom onto and make it about "their thing" instead of keeping it "on-point" and focused.


This isn't an LGBTQ thing...

This isn't a Feminism thing...

This isn't a Palestine thing...

It's supposed to be a "this coffee company isn't treating employees fairly" thing.

Not only does it water down the legitimacy of the actual cause they're supposed to be rallying for, but they're also running the risk of potentially alienating some folks who would've otherwise been perhaps somewhat receptive to primary cause.


Whoever is organizing these things should have said "Hey, you...with the megaphone, knock it off for right now, you can yell about patriarchy and do your rainbow flag and Palestine flag thing next week, we're trying to get a raise over here"

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Starbucks union announces strike to last through Christmas Eve in 3 major cities

The union said baristas will embark on five days of escalating strikes through Christmas Eve “unless Starbucks honors our commitment to work towards a foundational framework.”

www.nbcnews.com

The union, which started organizing in 2021, represents 525 union stores and over 10,500 union workers, according to its website. Starbucks has nearly 10,000 company-owned U.S. stores, The Associated Press reports.

Starbucks Workers United announced baristas will strike starting Friday in three key markets — Seattle, Los Angeles and Chicago.


I have my own set of opinions on this (both in terms of the overall subject matter, as well as my stance that Starbucks is overrated in the first place lol)

But even that aside...
Seems like an odd choice of cities to strike in.

You'd think they'd want to select areas that maybe weren't littered with a bunch of independent/unique coffee shops (most of which are probably better than Starbucks)

For instance, pick a town where the only choices are Starbuck vs. getting coffee from McDonalds or the Gas Station... and not picking a city like Seattle... Where there's 56 coffee shops per 100,000 residents (the majority being independent coffee shops not affiliated with Starbucks)

Or LA, which has 800 coffee shops, only 93 of them Starbucks.

If there's ever a brand that shouldn't want people to find out "hey you can get something way better for the same price or even cheaper", it's Starbucks.


I'm not sure they have the leverage in the coffee market, more broadly, to pull this off in a way that doesn't permanently lose customers...as undoubtedly, once people pick a different independent coffee shop to go to, they'll likely find that they like that much better, and will continue going to the "hidden gems" even if the Starbucks employees reach an agreement and come back.

Starbucks employees striking in LA in Seattle... am I the only one thinking this is a bit self-defeating in the long run?

Now we know why a cup of nasty Starbucks coffee costs over $6. I am sure there are plenty of liberal white women who would disagree, but personally, I wouldn't even notice if Starbucks went bankrupt.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Now we know why a cup of nasty Starbucks coffee costs over $6. I am sure there are plenty of liberal white women who would disagree, but personally, I wouldn't even notice if Starbucks went bankrupt.

To be fair, people buy dumb stuff all the time that's likely overpriced.

Starbucks being overpriced/overrated has less to do with the employees, and more to do with how people perceive brands.

You'll notice, I've been critical of their strike efforts for logistical reasons and a few social reasons, but in the case of "trendy coffee" being overrated/overpriced, that's a brand perception thing.

Sort of like how people will gravitate toward Coach purses and other "designer brands", is it because it's so much better in terms of quality compared to what you could get for 1/5 the price? No...is it because the Vietnamese kid stitching it together for 50 cents an hour is getting paid too much? No... It's simply part of the "brand zeitgeist" at this point lol.

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

I have always not liked coffee until April of this year two days after my 53rd birthday. I was in Italy and discovered real coffee. Now I have an Italian espresso machine and twenty pounds of Italian coffee. The down side is my wife who has always been a coffee drinker only wants mine now.

Starbucks failed in Australia because the Italians (and Greeks, among others) got here first. Now they have a handful of stores selling coffee to tourists who recognise the name, along with high school kids (apparently Gen-Alpha like it)

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Sounds like they're back to work (but with no resolution yet)

Unionized Starbucks employees back to work after strike ends

A strike that lasted for days against Starbucks ended on Tuesday, the union Starbucks Workers United told ABC News.

www.yahoo.com

Workers United told ABC News in a statement that Starbucks had proposed no immediate wage increases for most baristas and a guarantee of only 1.5% wage increases in future years.

But Starbucks said in a statement that the union proposed an immediate increase in the minimum wage for hourly employees by 64% and an overall 77% raise over the duration of a three-year contract.

A company spokesperson told ABC News, “This is not sustainable.”

Starbucks said it already pays an average of $18 per hour.

When you factor in health care, free college tuition, and paid family leave, Starbucks’ pay package is worth about $30 an hour for baristas who work at least 20 hours per week.

 

[durangodawood]

Putting various sugar syrups in your coffee is gross and also unhealthy. And oat "milk" isnt going to save you from the effects of this habit.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Putting various sugar syrups in your coffee is gross and also unhealthy. And oat "milk" isnt going to save you from the effects of this habit.

You mean the 450 calorie vegan shortbread cookies don't cancel out the effect of drinking a 600 calorie peppermint mocha?

 

[durangodawood]

You mean the 450 calorie vegan shortbread cookies don't cancel out the effect of drinking a 600 calorie peppermint mocha?

I guess one could try it for a year and find out. If you can afford it.

Actually a little shortbread with an americano sounds kind of nice.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

I just add a small amount of milk to my Italian coffee, mostly to cool it a little. I wonder what the bagged pre brewed coffee concentrate from Starbucks tastes like when "brewed" for the customer with out all the syrup flavors.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

And oat "milk" isnt going to save you from the effects of this habit.

As far as I'm concerned, the oat "milk" is more about staving off gut explosions than eating healthy - iirc, it's actually higher-calorie than cow's milk.