I don’t understand these corporate wide unions. Let’s say we develop the worlds most awesome union at starbucks then what? Starbucks is just a great place to work now? that’s it? Not a food service union or baristas union? just starbucks? What happens if starbucks goes out of business no more union? So all this work was for nothing? the idea being that people will want to be an entry level starbucks employee for the rest of their life?
only about 300k people work for starbucks, and management isn’t in the union right? so were talking maybe 100k people, in temporary jobs none of them plan to keep for very long. If they do stay they’ll be promoted to management and then would therefore leave the union. Whats assistant manager take 1 year maybe 2 until youre promoted?
Not to mention luxury coffee shops being the most useless thing on planet earth. honestly how many people can tell the difference in a blind taste test between starbucks and freeze dried instant coffee? I find it very strange that these corporate unions are also happening in companies normally thought of as leftish, starbucks, amazon, tesla, hipster type techie companies. Striking works because the competition is using union labor and you’re not ,so you have to deal with strikes while they dont. intercorporate unions dont make any sense, the only person it could possibly benefit would be someone who plans to work an entry level position at starbucks for the rest of their lives, I couldn’t imagine a greater nightmare
We have to remember that any sort of class consciousness has been systemically dismantled in US since WW2 times. People are rediscovering methods for organization, and it’s going to take time for them to learn how to do it effectively and to develop broader consciousness regarding capitalism. I see this as a positive development because if unionizing becomes normalized that’s a first step towards people learning about things like collective bargaining and collective political action.
The job for the politically advanced vanguard is to engage with other workers, to guide them, and to teach them in order to develop the kind of class consciousness we need. It’s not going to happen on its own.
I smell a carefully plotted PR stunt. People pay billions for the amount of free advertisements and name placements Starbucks gets from this, “there’s no such thing as bad publicity”. Screaming someone’s brand name and making their CEO a household name, doesn’t have the worst effect on their stock price. Reading this article I’m not being asked to vote for anything, or donate anywhere, all I’ve learned is that Starbucks gives away free red holiday cups or something, every year. I just want a free cup now that’s all.
I think you might be conflating union actions with reporting on union actions. The union is representing its members, but the reporting starts by focusing on the free cup. Vice definitely isn’t a worker forward publication. The union is asking for support they would like right at the top of their home page: https://sbworkersunited.org/
Also, unions don’t end at corporate boundaries. Read the FAQ on the above link to see how the Starbucks union fits into the local union landscape.
I see, so it’s like vaguely connected to the SEIU?.. but so many red flags right away, like this:
We are pro-Starbucks
why?
We want Starbucks to be the best it can be.
why?
Many of us have dedicated years of our lives to this company
that’s so sad
, and those of us with less seniority want this to be a place we can make a sustainable career.
wouldn’t you just prefer seniority?
Starbucks it is the leader in the coffee industry.
who talks like this?
It should also be the leader in collaborating with its partners to raise standards of living and working in the industry.
I’d much rather prefer it go bankrupt
Are you saying the entire unionization effort is a set up for publicity?
Not exactly how I’d frame it but that is something vice news would do frankly. Starbucks doesn’t want a union but they can make the most of it.
it makes sense doesn’t it? a completely inept union that can be gotten rid of at anytime, that anyone can either be promoted from or fired from? Starbucks’ first union effort was in 1985 almost 40 years were later we’ve got one whole store. Look at the spook in charge of this new one too. Jaz Brisack, a rhodes scholar and oxford grad who goes to work for minimum wage at starbucks? All these articles saying “starbucks” millions of times over and over, and what happens? maybe they get a small cost of living raise? if that?
one whole store
? There are about 250 stores that have approved unionization across a large area impacting 6500 employees. It did start with one store though.
it makes sense doesn’t it
No. I believe that Starbucks is trying to make the most of the situation, but they would dissolve the union or would’ve blocked it in the first place if they could.
Starbucks is fighting this tooth and nail, and they’ve shut down stores that managed to unionize. I highly doubt companies are encouraging unionization.
franchises open and close stores on a whim all the time, they also fire people for no reason all the time, 99% of employees don’t last a year at any of these corporate mega chains. I don’t see them fighting tooth and nail I see them continuing on with business as usual, while posting record profits
I guess we see things differently here ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I’m far more interested in the ongoing railroad strikes in the US, hardly ever hear a word about them, if I didn’t go out of my way to google it every now and then I wouldn’t even know it’s going on. Granted it’s in the US so its not a real union, or a real strike those are highly illegal, and considered an act of treason, but its interesting to watch. Especially considering how much the transportation industry is being automated, driverless trucks, hyperloops, at home deliveries skyrocketing etc
Sure, railroad strikes have much more potential, but it all adds up in my opinion. As I said earlier, I think the key part is that workers are recognizing the need to organize and act collectively. Every such effort should be encouraged, and when these efforts are misguided then efforts should be made to help steer people in the right direction.
Not to mention… Unions using corporate iconography is gross
Not to mention luxury coffee shops being the most useless thing on planet earth. honestly how many people can tell the difference in a blind taste test between starbucks and freeze dried instant coffee?
[Disclaimer: I’m a coffee snob]
Most people who go to Starbucks would probably not be able to tell if they’re drinking specialty coffee or grocery store coffee, my impression is that they don’t go there to get great coffee, but out of convenience. Chains like Starbucks are the fast food equivalent in the coffee world. I wouldn’t go to a Starbucks myself, if I’m on a long trip I love stopping by a good coffee shop where they serve specialty coffee. “Luxury coffee shops” (local coffee shops) have a place in our society, in my opinion international coffee shop chains do not.
I’m a total coffee addict too I drink a pot a day, I consider starbucks more like a teenage ice cream shop though, their drip coffee is good, but I usually go to dunkin for their xtra large cups, but starbucks does light roast coffee which you can’t find anywhere and it’s like 30 cents more a cup so i’ll go there sometimes for that. If i do blow money on something like a latte I’ll go to starbucks. but i dont think ive been there in maybe 3 years? I used to get the beans back when I ground my own. Now i just stick to folgers and maxwell house, don’t even bother putting sugar in it anymore . Id never get beans or get a latte at mcdonalds, even though I go there just for their $1 any size coffee all the time.
However Starbucks also sells ice cream drinks that the teenagers love because they have caffeine and are more “adult” than a giant milkshake. So starbucks became a trendy place for suburban white teens to hangout, mostly just because it was one of only three stores in the whole town, but also because it was a legal drug for teens, so it became a cool place for teenage white girls to eat ice cream and hangout. Coffeeshops in europe have a whole long storied traditios of intellectuals, poets, and political history etc but not in America it’s just a burger joint that focuses on coffee, maybe there is some genuine cultural crossover there, but its mostly about selling ice cream to suburban teenage white girls
Allot of union dues are based on how many years you work. They’d have to have something like a flat rate while providing worthwhile services to employees such as legal and employment expertise.
