Starbucks' unionized workers plan walkout on "Red Cup Day" this week
Thousands of unionized Starbucks workers will walk off their jobs on Thursday, with the one-day work stoppages coming to protest the company's stance with shops that voted to organize, according to Starbucks Workers United.
The labor action is timed to for Starbucks' Red Cup Day, an annual event in which the coffee giant hands out holiday-themed reusable cups. Starbucks has refused to negotiate in good faith over staffing and other issues that are particularly acute during promotions, according to the union.
"Starbucks is creating unnecessarily stressful working conditions by scheduling promotion after promotion without increasing staffing," Neha Cremin, a Starbucks worker in Oklahoma City, said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. "Starbucks has made it clear that they won't listen to workers, so we're advocating for ourselves by going on strike."
it was so cruel working a food service job where every so often they'd do cutesy little promo days or sales days (over dumb completely made up little folk holidays or ad campaign traditions like this); they cook up this sort of faux-positive team-spirit attitude about 'getting thru it' or whatever, like a band of soldiers. and at the end of the day, you're worn out, stressed, you got paid the same shitty wage you got paid yesterday, the company doubled their profits, which all go off to some dickhead in ohio who didn't do shit, but looked forward to today like christmas
and i love how after 2020 now it's just par for the course for restaurants to always be understaffed because it's cheaper. this stupid fucking country is falling apart.
Businesses used to give their workers Christmas bonuses for doing things like that.
But don't forget the managers and business owners complaining "people don't want to work" and blaming Democrats, unions, unemployment benefits, and "kids these days"
Why Ohio?
Why not Ohio?
Fair enough
One of the first shops to unionize was on Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. Starbucks recently announced a number of closings and surprisingly enough, that shop is one of the stores being closed. Corporate swears the closing has nothing to do with the union.
Apparently a shop operating successfully for over 20 years in a high visibility, heavy foot trafficked area of a college town is just a recipe for failure.
It's so frustrating that such blatant union busting goes unpunished. If I had any power, I'd see execs in charge of decisions like that go to jail. Not a fine -- jail. White collar crime is one area where I think prison actually can be a decent deterrent (if there's enough enforcement that people don't think they'd go uncaught). It's a crime where the perpetrator usually is knowledgeable, not in the heat of the moment, and has plenty of time to recognize what they're doing.
Nah, I'm okay with this type of union busting, even as a fully paid union member. Yeah, those staff are out of a job, but with the help of the union they're a member of, they'll find another job pretty quickly. Especially in this example as the union will consider it a win and want to capitalise on the free promotion. One less location trying to screw their staff is a win in my book too.
Aren't the Starbucks unions effectively just relevant to Starbucks, so if they closed all the unionized stores, the union wouldn't have anywhere to place them.
Or are Starbucks unions part of a larger union?
That's the great thing about unions, they are all intertwined and will support each other. I can't remember which country it is, but there's a current furore going on in Europe with Tesla workers. Dockworkers etc have stepped up and are supporting them in their strike by doing a go slow on Tesla imports etc. Similar things have happened in the past too. Say steelworkers go on strike. If shit is bad enough, you'll have members of the coal workers union, mining union etc also do their bit to help screw the company screwing the steelworkers with the aim of getting a proper resolution for the steelworkers. That's why you should join a union. They don't just advocate for proper conditions for just you and your fellow union members in your industry, they advocate for proper conditions for all workers in your industry, as well as workers in other industries, regardless of if they're members or not (although, obviously, you will get way more support if you are a union member).
Wow, Unions work.
I guess this is why the ruling class and useful idiots are so against them.
I wish 50% of America would go to the event to cause an absolute overwhelm, crush and chaos that would bring fines to each location.
Each customer should take 5 minutes or longer to order. Vehicles should break down in the drive throughs.
Since a 100% boycott won’t happen, this is the only way.
Just don't order. Take up space inside but never order. Don't give them money.
Can’t do that, legally, they can trespass you.
Not if you leave before the police get there.
And if you do wait, what have you actually lost? Access to overpriced coffee at one location?
Starbucks policy is to let you stay in the cafe no matter what. A few years ago they shut down every store for a day to train the workers on this. it was a whole thing.
Sure. Just pretend like you're thinking about your order until they call the cops. They won't trespass you if they think you're a customer, and it doesn't carry any weight until the cops get there.
It's November 16th. That's the Red Cup Day. I assume CBS didn't add the date to the article because they don't give a shit if customers accidentally cross a picket line.
It says "Thursday," which, assuming the the article was written and posted this week, is a perfectly adequate way of conveying the date of the protest. Not that I think CBS has workers' interests in mind or anything, but we may as well be accurate with our condemnation of corporations.
The author could have just not known that? I didn't.
I plan to go in, use the bathroom, and not buy anything. It is like slacktivism but I get peace and quite while on the can.
They play music in there, and it's Christmas time. You're gonna be poopin' to that song.
Starbucks bathroom protesting is a hard pass for me. Those things get aggressively shit in by average folks who’ve come to the intersection of lactose intolerance and caffeine.
They’re also a big hit for homeless junkies who need a quiet place to shoot up, or simply want to take a 5 pound opiate-constipation dump.
So, you're saying Starbucks restrooms are a good thing, providing what are effectively public accommodations when the city won't.
Please, I've gone to the toilets on day 5 of a 5 day music festival. Nothing toilet wise scares me anymore.
Lol, maybe I'll do that too. I haven't gone to Starbucks in over a year, but there's one on the way to my kid's school, so I might just do it.
They can pay for my flush.
Any customer crossing the picket line -- or even getting a red cup from a not-yet-unionized store, for that matter -- is a class traitor.
Not if they’re a billionaire!
I don't get it. Shouldn't we want to overwhelm the business when workers aren't there?
Starbucks should see how much profit they're missing out on and have to deal with all the angry customers.
Meanwhile I'll be over here continuing to never buy overpriced retail caffeinated sugar drink from a godawful megacorporation, like I've done since 1987.
Was that after your friends died in an Orange Mocha Frapachino fueled freak accident gasoline fight.
Is this a school for ants?
Is this a school for ants?
I bet you're fun at parties.
Some of the stores by us today have their keyhole glued so no one can get in
There's no way there's no cameras.... the cops work for Corps, those hero's are getting the book thrown at them.
Oh no! If they walk out on red cup day, how will all the basic white women get their reusable cup that they're gonna just post a picture of on their twitter/x before throwing it out after they finish their drink? Won't they think of the social media influencers who think Starbucks is a high quality luxury status symbol?
Wow what a weirdly racist and sexist thing to say
White isn't a race
Caffeine isn't a flavor
Oh snap
Ok
Because it worked so well last time that they now do it yearly.
Maybe workers should walk out yearly. Or even more often. Just to show the bosses who they rely on.
This is brilliant. Just like UAW was doing "no-notice" strikes, do an unannounced one day walkout every once in a while. Picket with signs that point out the benefits workers have achieved by striking. Not only would it remind companies of the value of labor, it would keep union solidarity strong among workers. It might even be a step towards a general strike, when such a thing is necessary.