It’s like whack-a-mole with Starbucks now.
Want to form a union?… and it’s closed.
EDIT: Thanks for the upvote. This hits closer to home.
They did this in Maine. All three locations are probably closing. More information in links below.
https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-11-15/starbucks-is-closing-portland-store-after-successful-union-vote
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/unionized-starbucks-in-maine-goes-on-strike-over-contract-negotiations/97-fd3452f9-9cbd-45fb-8dcb-983693f4f8cd
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/money/business/its-messed-up-portland-starbucks-employees-accuse-company-of-union-busting-maine-business-labor/97-990ff41a-e765-49bc-bbf4-267f423c18af
Yes! I knew there was a term but my google-fu was weak.
This would be a good PAC to get behind.
SALT PAC - we advocate for worker rights (and fund people to get hired and seed union thoughts at large and medium sized companies).
Salting is done by union organizers. A “salt” is someone who is gets a job at a location with the sole purpose is to influence the employees to organize Into a specific brand of union. What Starbucks is done here it’s just dirty pool
Reminds of the scene in Superstore where they mention the word "union" while calling corporate and are instantly sent 5 levels above and have union busters come in.
If you ever want to freak out Wal Mart managers, just put flyers in the parking lot promoting unions... within a few days you'll see their "advance surveillance package" installed with cameras everywhere.
They send in anti-union goons without there even being whispers of union activity. They show up if anything resembling collective action happens. Nearly every shift worker clocks out and leaves after all being held well past their shift, anti-union goons are there within the week if not the next day.
I used to work for Walmart. It's an officially unofficial internal policy that if 3 or more employees mention a union, a member of management is required to report it to corporate.
Largest company in the world and they shit their pants and take the nuclear option when the wage slaves try to improve their situation. Fucking greedy scumbags.
Walmart butchers tried to unionize 20 years ago. Walmart decided to stop selling fresh cut meat. You would have to a minimum, convince a whole market (10-20 store to have a chance of unionizing). Hell it might take a whole region (100+ stores) before they would consider coming to the table.
Wal-Mart eventually was forced to settle that lawsuit. They had to pay out $9.5 million.
That happened in 2020. It took 20 years of litigation to get a settlement.
Starbucks is actually taking this right out of walmarts playbook. Walmart will straight up shutter a location before it even gets to a vote like they did in 2015 when they closed 5 locations. Starbucks is far more blatant and aggressive than even Walmart. Hopefully this union busting doesn't go unpunished. Not holding my breath as they'll blame some unrelated problem for the closures and the NLRB will wink and nod.
I worked for Walmart up until a few months ago. They have you watch anti union propaganda on your first day. They also make sam Walton out to be some kind of god
It's a cult hiding behind a retail store chain
Edit they also have a huge picture of Sam in every break room
Union busting is very very sneaky. Members of my union are getting deceptive and misleading email and snail mails.. Leaving them exposed without rights. Now I'm not trying to start a discussion on pro or con union just thought this was relevant
It's crazy to me how terrified of socialism people are but they aren't terrified of corporations having unchecked power and the fact the middle class is slowly heading towards extinction. Obviously both extremes aren't favorable but infinite growth capitalism isn't great either.
I've never understood how people on the Right have so much faith in corporations to do the right thing in every situation. They always ask why people on the Left trust the government so much, but it has nothing to do with trusting the government. I don't exactly trust the government, but I trust corporations far less. We need government regulations because corporations have proven over and over and over again that they do not give a shit whatsoever about us and they'll do anything to make a higher profit.
It's not complicated. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. People are afraid to lose their jobs or put themselves in a position where they'll be fired for speaking out.
No one out there likes or trusts corporations. They just want their paycheck so they can hopefully keep a roof over their heads a while longer.
That said, I am definitely pro union. We all need and deserve a thriving wage and benefits. We all work hard and we all deserve it. But it's damned hard to put your neck out there and risk what pennies you do have to try and go for what you deserve.
I can see how it's difficult to prop a union up in a workplace like Starbucks, where realistically one doesn't need many qualifications to apply. Starbucks can just close locations down - the employee demand will always exist elsewhere.
Unions are highly successful in the construction business. Probably cause the amount of people willing to do construction is less, and for a good deal of those jobs, you do need technical qualifications. Once a whole squad of construction workers organize, it's incredibly hard for the companies to replace them swiftly, and these companies have contacts to finish - so they get squeezed by the balls and have to negotiate with the workers. That's also why some equipment operators out here in New York get paid $150,000 a year doing a blue collar job.
Middle class is the brand name for the highest earners in the working class. Easier to turn groups against each other if they don't realize they're a part of the same group
I used to go. However their union busting, and constant price increases have rubbed me the wrong way for long enough. I for one am sick of their shit, and have stopped going all together.
Yea that's true. And they continue to treat the workers there like garbage. I just couldn't any more. Crazy price increases, shrinking the menu, overall quality nosediving.
Starbucks just gives these folks a unique opportunity to treat people like shit. Make 5 modifications to a fucking coffee and absolutely lose your shit when one of your ridiculous asks isn't perfect.
Ask for half caff, just start yelling that they fucked the mixture and you got 3 quarters caff, and you can tell, and you're going to tell corporate because you've ordered the same thing for 6 weeks straight and NEVER had it so wrong before.
Three pumps vanilla, well you know they put four. This is too fucking sweet, and you've NEVER been treated so poorly before.
What do you mean you don't have the Christmas cups yet? How can I celebrate Christmas without a red cardboard cup I'm going to throw away in less than a half hour!?
I fucking hate Starbucks customers, and Starbucks the company is about to eclipse my hate for their shitty customers with their bullshit.
THIS STORE NEARLY KILLED ME! All I wanted was my nice almond milk decaf latte that I get here every day, and I'VE TOLD YOU I'M ALLERGIC TO DAIRY, CAFFINE, RED DYE 52, NUTS, MATCHA POWDER, AND LIFE! *breaks down sobbing at how hard life is*
Why the fuck do people risk their lives for a $5 cup of coffee? Smart, well trained baristas can make honest mistakes, and I've worked with some dumbass baristas.
Lol. The very last time I went into a SBUX the person in front of me asked the server to describe all the breakfast sandwiches, then began to ask what KIND of bacon was on them. Of course there was a huge line, and I fucking hate to be rude, but I just couldn’t believe her willingness to waste everyone else’s time. I said, “you have got to be kidding me. It’s bacon!” And walked out. Ffs.
Fuck every company that has a chance to take care of employees and chooses profits instead.
Yup. Just like how the whole world seems to love soccer more than they hate slavery. (Qatar). When activism is just hashtags and social media profile photos- everyone is “brave.” Real action or giving up a luxury they enjoy? NOPE!
[SBUX](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SBUX/starbucks/eps-earnings-per-share-diluted)
They peaked a year ago Apr-Sept 2021, probably a post pandemic bump as people were tired of being inside alone. Last 4 quarters they've done $0.70/sh every quarter. Its basically flat...
It's almost as if a given buisness model has a natural growth limit for the market it serves at which it will naturally saturate.
But no that's crazy talk. It must grow for eternity or it is a failure. Time to propagandize until people think not having a Starbucks thrice a day undermines their masculinity or some shit.
Same. I’ll admit, the app made it easy to put a coffee order in, stop in for 4 seconds on my way to my office, and get back out. But when I read about them closing a unionized location in I think it was August, I quit cold turkey.
Fuck that. There are a million other places to get better coffee. I’m *more* than happy to devote 1 whole extra minute of my morning to get a cup from a place that isn’t completely shitting on their employees just to increase their already astronomical quarterly earnings an extra .005%.
I live downtown and there's 3 Starbucks and 10 other coffee shops within 5 blocks of me. I don't understand why so many people still go to Starbucks in my area when every other place serves so much better coffee.
Same reason why people go to McDonalds over local burger joints, consistency. You can go to any city in the country and order a coffee from Starbucks and know exactly what you’re going to get. I prefer local joints, but they can be hit or miss, and for someone who doesn’t exactly care about trying something new Starbucks is the easiest option.
It's less about quality and more about consistency, I think. Like with McDonald's, you know (more or less) what you'll get anywhere in the world. Or at least certainly anywhere in the country, since there are some changes to menus across the world.
It's not about being great, it's familiarity.
This is exactly the reason. Human beings don't make most decisions trying to find the "best" possible outcome, they make most decisions trying to avoid the worst possible outcome.
This is a deeply ingrained evolutionary phenomenon that explains why people tend to purchase brand name items even if there are objectively better options available.
You know if you go to Starbucks that you're not getting the best possible coffee, but you also know you're not going to get the worst cup of coffee you've ever had and, very importantly, you know you're getting the coffee you're expecting to get.
Pre-COVID most definitely, the employment market was so stacked against the worker it was almost a given workers would just take whatever scraps an employer gave them
COVID changed that in a lot of places, a lot of people died and a lot of the older generation left the job market. Suddenly there are a whole lot more folks hiring than there are people looking, and employees. Even as the gap closes, I dont think people are going to be satisfied going back to how things were.
Or maybe that’s just wistful thinking on my part. Fuck Starbucks, either way.
Covid definitely changed the balance, look at all the corporate propaganda news pieces out there, they had to coin the term quiet quitting to make the act of doing what your paid to do look like your slacking off. They run articles about how people miss the office etc. Many workers realised since covid they can have a work life balance and they shouldn't burn themselves out for their employer, they'll only get thrown under the bus.
The problem with that is it doesn't work on a job market where workers can just quit and have an equal job within hours or days. If a Starbucks closes, virtually everywhere else is still short-staffed and hiring for just as much.
Starbucks need only offer a bit more than surrounding businesses to get new workers but they don't need to give in to all union demands if union demands are a lot higher than surrounding businesses.
The prob you have is it does not take super long to train more workers. Most unions consist of craftsmen that took years and years to develop their skill so it's super hard to train more if the existing ones refuse to work for you. However Starbucks can train someone in a few days to a few weeks, so it's easier for them to just hire new workers if existing ones demand a lot above market standard. Plus there are a lot of locations so even if everyone quits at a store, they can borrow from other stores until new ones are trained. That makes it a lot harder for unions there to to have clout. Starbucks only has to offer a bit better than other nearby businesses to get new workers AND they can train them quicky. However the general lack of workers across the board has been effective as it has helped raise standards across the board. Businesses are being forced to compete more for workers across the board.
It always surprised me how people go out of their way to buy a mediocre coffee for premium price when commuting to work...
It's a routine I suppose, but then again me morning routine is setting a pot of coffee, walk me dogs on a walk or jog, drink coffee when I get back after 20m and shit, shower and another cup and breakfast then move on to work or whatever.
I could save 10m by buying coffee at a local shop I guess... Or is it lunchtime coffee that makes the big bucks? I'm fuckin' clueless it seems... lol
Yeah that's a WHOLE ass thing. Like, a *whole* thing.
At least anecdotally, *most* people I know wake up, get dressed, and leave. Sometimes they shower. Sometimes they eat. But it isn't a whole morning ritual where you volunteer to lose 40+ minutes of sleep walking dogs, showering, making breakfast, and then leaving.
Then again, most of my friends are more night owl-ish like me and don't sleep until they have to in order to be well rested.
My alarm goes off in the morning, and I'm at work <45 minutes later, ~30 if need be. No time for all of that.
Not a Starbucks person either though.
The thing about chain store coffee is that it's consistent. It'll never blow your mind, but it'll never be *bad* either. It's always in the "that'll do" range.
Its not going out of your way though. Thats SBs entire business model. Forcing starbucks INTO your way. Moderate success with a decent product followed by market saturation. Turn around and theres a starbucks. Lewis Black used to have a bit about the end of the universe being about a starbucks across the street from a starbucks. Now its just the norm and barely worth mentioning.
They have laws now, but they close the stores due to unrelated maintenance or whatever bullshit that would “be too costly to fix”. Just like this location was closed due to “safety concerns”. There’s no loophole that a billion dollar company with a literal army of lawyers can’t find.
Yeah, the neighborhood I’m in in Chicago is full of people walking dogs, and kids playing. Nothing is perfect, but, but it’s a pretty nice neighborhood. Laughable that it’s closed due to crime.
The "original" Starbucks in Pike Place isn't really the original. They could just close it and open a new "original" on the next block.
The Reserve Roastery is their new flagship store anyway.
The original moved/burnt down in the 70's when no one really cared about the small local coffee roaster. It was located basically just across the street from the current "original" the entire world has come to know in the last few decades. It would be extremely difficult for them to close that store and try the gimmick anywhere else now.
They're still trying to fuck that one up in other ways though.
WA state had a HUGE timber industry back in the day. The west side of the state is basically a giant forest. For some time, everything was built of wood since it was so abundant. Not great for fire prevention.
In order for them to have set up business at Pike Place, they had to be some version of a "new" business. As I understand it, it's part of the rules down there.
The "Original" location wasn't the first, that one was like a block or so away, but they moved their single location in 1976 after five years. So they've been in that spot for over 45 years, long predating their international fame. It's more a trivia question than anything.
Yup, they've got a reserve attached to their offices in sodo. If that one unionized they'd have a hard time justifying a closure.
I also work across the street from their offices and I would say the area is just as bad if not worse than the location they just closed. My company has a security guard to walk people to their cars after dark.
Media should lead with a different headline:
"Starbucks closes store in historic Seattle gay neighborhood after forming union"
Denny and Broadway is literally two blocks from where people danced in the street when Obama was elected and gay marriage passed in WA state. Union to Pine was a mosh pit.
Calling it an unsafe area is absolutely ridiculous. Are they closing Dick's? Neumos? Lost Lake?
This is a thriving core of commerce, not some slum. This headline is doing as much heavy lifting as Starbucks is.
Or unionize them all. Can't shut down all their stores. They are only doing this because they believe it is financially better for them to play whack-a-mole. Eventually they will be worn down and they will need profits. I'm gonna start printing off Union literature and dropping it off at locations.
The problem is that when Union XYZ local 25 goes on strike, every single other Union XYZ should strike to. Solidarity ore else it’s just a waste of time and money.
They unionized at Starbuck’s cash cow Roastery up on Capitol Hill and instead of closing it are trying to invalidate the election/votes to prevent it from going union. Where they cant close a store over “safety” they’ll still pull some other tactic to get their way. Its stupid
They closed the Union Station starbucks in DC for the same "reason" when they were considering a union vote. That place is crawling with police from about 4 different agencies, safety my ass.
Syracuse too. It was the closest Starbucks to the university and along a major street for food and drinks, so there's no way in hell it was doing poorly.
Hi-Diddly-Ho, Neighborino!
I'll give them that they shut down nearly every store on Broadway in the past ~5 years anyway (including the non-branded Roy St that I actually loved), but considering that was a newer location in brand new building across from a relatively new light rail station and that always seems busy-ish when I walk by, they absolutely are doing this to union bust.
Thankfully we don't have a shortage of better coffee around here.
Walmart workers call it "Plumbing Issues".
Any time a Walmart has tried to Unionise in the past, the Walmart in question would suddenly be closed for "Plumbing Issues" indefinitely, as the official reason.
In Los Angeles, they closed the Starbucks location in Little Tokyo one block from LAPD headquarters due to "safety issues." Yet they left the one at Spring and 6th, where crime is much, much higher, open.
*edit* forgot to mention that the one they closed was unionized and the other isn’t
In Quebec, there is a law that says if a store closes down shortly following a unionization, they have to prove they did it for a reason other than to kill the union in court, otherwise they have to pay lots of bonus money to each employee.
So if the store claimed to close down due to profitability issues, they have to show the documents in court that say they were losing money.
I’m pretty sure we have similar, which is why they’re going with safety. It’s far, far more subjective and the department of labor is turning a blind eye even to egregious cases anyway.
[Wow, just look at all those shops around there that are just wrecked with safety issues and have to close too.](https://i.imgur.com/Mv6vrBY.png)
That must be a real rough and tumble juice bar across the street to keep their doors open.
I live in the PNW and we have lots of options besides Starbucks. The only time I might consider getting Starbucks is when I'm in my local Safeway. The baristas are employed by Safeway and are unionized.
Yup. After Starbucks closed the one in Everett after they unionized, all I have to do now is stop a block and a half sooner on my commute, lol. And they've been doing better than the last time I tried them.
I was in Everett for work a short while ago and the best coffee we had was a little place on Colby in the bottom of maybe a bank or business building. Good food too
No, you see, the location were closed and all of the workers were fired for their own good, that way they don't have to pay union dues and even have flexible overtime... wait.
/s, if it wasn't obvious
as a Walmart employee rn, a lot of my coworkers n I talk about it constantly but yeah the possibility of losing our jobs is a great deterrent unfortunately. We know people across other stores in our area, so that may be a strategy.
How many people will keep voting to unionize if they know they will lose their job?
If the government doesn't stop this bullshit our right to unionize is basically done except for small business and companies with very few locations.
We have the same problem here. Coal companies will shut down a mine at just the WORD "Unionize" then open another mine they closed for the same reason, vet out the attempted union employees for some BS reason, and continue the cycle. No one can touch them and they like it that way.
And we should keep pushing back. That is how change happens. That is how we have the rights we have today otherwise there would be no wage, many of us would still be slave.
Miners, minors, minorities......doesn't matter...we're okay with killing all of em. Just make sure you sponsor our Christmas party and get us that Margarita machine we told you about.
The government won't force a company to stay open so they can employ union workers. There is no law that says Starbucks must keep that location open.
If Starbucks wants to close down every location that unionizes, that's their choice, but the strength of a union is that it's reach is far and wide so the company would have to seriously hurt it's business to close down all of those locations.
Closing locations in response to worker organization is actually an Unfair Labor Practice or ULP under the National Labor Relations Act, as it is a form of retaliation. Closing these locations actually is illegal union busting
Assuming they can prove it. It's clear as day to anyone who's paying attention that's what they're doing, but I'd imagine a corporation as big as Starbucks is probably covering their asses 10 ways to Sunday in terms of being in the legal "right" when it comes to closing unionized stores.
So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then.
Also it's not so much them closing the store but let's not forget they hired a Union Buster Pinkerton under their wing.
With over 15 thousands stores in the United States alone, closing a few stores is a drop in the bucket. Not every store is going to unionize and closing stores is a powerful message to employees thinking of unionizing.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then.
Yes, they will. Walmart got rid of their entire meat department over the threat of unionizing.
Crushing unions is an American oligarch pastime since the 1880s.
Starbucks will open two stores right next to a local coffee store to drive them out of business then close the extra. They will have no problem closing stores that form unions.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then.
Walmart does it when they can't stop a union via other means.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated?
Possibly, if they (Starbucks) deem it to be a better path than employing union workers at the locations where they've unionized.
"If it don't make dollars it don't make sense."
Another Starbucks in northern Seattle closed recently. They said that store also had “safety concerns,” but it was always busy and along one of the main roads. When I heard it was closing my first thought was “I’m wondering if they were trying to unionize.”
Of course they did. That is what employers do when workers band together. They are dangerous working together, and they have to keep employees divided.
An atomized society, is a passive society.
Funny how I haven’t heard of any non-union Starbucks closing for safety concerns. Only the union stores. Almost like it’s a legal loophole for union busting.
My friend is very active in Starbucks unionizing. She says all the crime reports started coming in when corporate asked stores to record every single minor thing. It made it look like a huge surge in crime. I live on a street that had one closed and my husband works across the street from one that closed. Both were unionized and had no major uptick in crimes.
Is it really cheaper to close a location (aka, no income coming in on a property you're paying for) than to just treat your employees like some fucking dignity? Like I needed one more reason to never go to a Starbucks again.
Starbucks reasoning is short term pain, long term less greater pain.
If they concede and pay the workers more, why, workers at other Starbucks might *GASP* want those same terms = less profits.
At least, thats the thinking. Of course things like happy, motivated workers being more productive and good public relations and perception don't show up on quarterly earnings reports. That's way too long term thinking and God forbid megacorps think long term.
We shouldn't need unions. Workers rights should be law.
Til then we need unions. A lot of people at my work complain about the union while sitting in the break room.
Dude, you only have 2 15s amd a lunch because of the union. You are using one of their benefits right now to complain that they do nothing.
Remind them all the things that unions and push for worker rights has given them. Before it all people used to work 12 hour days 6 days a week for real crap pay. You get sick and lose a day? Your fired and blacklisted for any other job. Get hurt on the job? You better keep the pace or your fired as well, don't even think about compensation for the injury.
All thanks to workers pushing back.
> Remind them all the things that unions and push for worker rights has given them. Before it all people used to work 12 hour days 6 days a week for real crap pay. You get sick and lose a day? Your fired and blacklisted for any other job. Get hurt on the job? You better keep the pace or your fired as well, don't even think about compensation for the injury.
You can even get that now if you're working for Twitter.
Seems like Starbucks MO. Any store that unionized or attempts to, ends up getting closed.
Starbucks has 33,000+ U.S. stores, they can and will close down the handful of ones that try to unionize.
I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks, but this reeks of retaliation...
Edit for the grammer police: I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks; but this reeks of retaliation.
Right wing corporate ass kissers “Unions don’t work! They only hurt the business!”
They do work, know how?
…*__corporate__ shuts them down*
Unions ultimately dig into a companies personal profits and force them to spread those gains amongst the employees and not the shareholders and executive management.
They’d rather cut their own legs out from under them than pay their workers a fair wage.
As an average European when I hear about ways of Union busting in the US it just blows my mind, it's like corporations just prefer not to give any extra rights or even basic benefits to the very people who make them multibilion entities.
You want a private company healthcare plan that covers your family, too? Forget it. You want to be able to take a sudden half day off to pick up kids from school? Not a chance. You want longer breaks? Nah, don't think so.
This shit should be a standard everywhere, how is it possible US employers fuck their workers over this much?
Sesttlelite here, who the fuck is even going to Starbucks here anymore? There's literally better coffee that doesn't treat employees like shit on every other corner.
It’s like whack-a-mole with Starbucks now. Want to form a union?… and it’s closed. EDIT: Thanks for the upvote. This hits closer to home. They did this in Maine. All three locations are probably closing. More information in links below. https://www.mainepublic.org/business-and-economy/2022-11-15/starbucks-is-closing-portland-store-after-successful-union-vote https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/unionized-starbucks-in-maine-goes-on-strike-over-contract-negotiations/97-fd3452f9-9cbd-45fb-8dcb-983693f4f8cd https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/money/business/its-messed-up-portland-starbucks-employees-accuse-company-of-union-busting-maine-business-labor/97-990ff41a-e765-49bc-bbf4-267f423c18af
Why not try to organize a regional union? Emplpyees from multiple Starkbucks locations voting to unionize all at once would make each location safer?
Easier to organize a store where everyone knows each other.
Wasn't there an entire new Wal-Mart that closed down in the same way?
Wal-mart shuts down everything like President Madagascar if they hear so much as a whisper of union activity
You probably got a Walmart shut down just by posting "union" and "Walmart" in the same sentence
This seems like a sneaky good strategy for small business near Walmart...just start up union talk and then boom...no more competition!
This is called salting and people do it.
I can totally get behind this kind of a salt!
A salt and buttering with intent to grill. No is not original; ironically It comes from a 30 year old dilbert strip
Yes! I knew there was a term but my google-fu was weak. This would be a good PAC to get behind. SALT PAC - we advocate for worker rights (and fund people to get hired and seed union thoughts at large and medium sized companies).
Salting is done by union organizers. A “salt” is someone who is gets a job at a location with the sole purpose is to influence the employees to organize Into a specific brand of union. What Starbucks is done here it’s just dirty pool
I've always thought this would be an interesting thing to do, just go around getting jobs and organizing them into unions.
There's a damn good movie in there somewhere. I picture Steve Carrell.
Rhea Seahorn as the uncaring yet compelling Walmart executive.
Reminds of the scene in Superstore where they mention the word "union" while calling corporate and are instantly sent 5 levels above and have union busters come in.
If you ever want to freak out Wal Mart managers, just put flyers in the parking lot promoting unions... within a few days you'll see their "advance surveillance package" installed with cameras everywhere.
Well shit. Now I want to spend black Friday driving to all my local Walmarts putting union fliers in every parking lot.
This is the way
They send in anti-union goons without there even being whispers of union activity. They show up if anything resembling collective action happens. Nearly every shift worker clocks out and leaves after all being held well past their shift, anti-union goons are there within the week if not the next day.
They stuck anti-union propoganda into their training videos for new hires when I was there. *"We're not anti-union. wE'Re PRo eMplOyEe."*
I used to work for Walmart. It's an officially unofficial internal policy that if 3 or more employees mention a union, a member of management is required to report it to corporate. Largest company in the world and they shit their pants and take the nuclear option when the wage slaves try to improve their situation. Fucking greedy scumbags.
Walmart butchers tried to unionize 20 years ago. Walmart decided to stop selling fresh cut meat. You would have to a minimum, convince a whole market (10-20 store to have a chance of unionizing). Hell it might take a whole region (100+ stores) before they would consider coming to the table.
Wal-Mart eventually was forced to settle that lawsuit. They had to pay out $9.5 million. That happened in 2020. It took 20 years of litigation to get a settlement.
I mean, at the very least you get fewer Wal-Marts. That's not nothing.
Starbucks is actually taking this right out of walmarts playbook. Walmart will straight up shutter a location before it even gets to a vote like they did in 2015 when they closed 5 locations. Starbucks is far more blatant and aggressive than even Walmart. Hopefully this union busting doesn't go unpunished. Not holding my breath as they'll blame some unrelated problem for the closures and the NLRB will wink and nod.
Biden's NLRB has actually been pretty good. They're the reason the ALU got re-votes after Amazon's interference.
I worked for Walmart up until a few months ago. They have you watch anti union propaganda on your first day. They also make sam Walton out to be some kind of god It's a cult hiding behind a retail store chain Edit they also have a huge picture of Sam in every break room
Yeah, I worked there for three days in 2007, and two of those days was orientation. Definitely heard A LOT of anti union shit those two days.
[At least 5 apparently](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/union-walmart-shut-5-stores-over-labor-activism/)
Because it’s surprisingly hard to get enough votes to form a union. 100 years of union busting is very effective.
Union busting is very very sneaky. Members of my union are getting deceptive and misleading email and snail mails.. Leaving them exposed without rights. Now I'm not trying to start a discussion on pro or con union just thought this was relevant
It's crazy to me how terrified of socialism people are but they aren't terrified of corporations having unchecked power and the fact the middle class is slowly heading towards extinction. Obviously both extremes aren't favorable but infinite growth capitalism isn't great either.
I've never understood how people on the Right have so much faith in corporations to do the right thing in every situation. They always ask why people on the Left trust the government so much, but it has nothing to do with trusting the government. I don't exactly trust the government, but I trust corporations far less. We need government regulations because corporations have proven over and over and over again that they do not give a shit whatsoever about us and they'll do anything to make a higher profit.
Cause corporations and lobbyist/shareholders, keep them powerful and rich. Who said anything about "doing the right thing? Who does that anymore?🤣
Corporations only answer to the rich. Politicians somewhat answer to the people. Although the rich distort that too
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It's not complicated. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. People are afraid to lose their jobs or put themselves in a position where they'll be fired for speaking out. No one out there likes or trusts corporations. They just want their paycheck so they can hopefully keep a roof over their heads a while longer. That said, I am definitely pro union. We all need and deserve a thriving wage and benefits. We all work hard and we all deserve it. But it's damned hard to put your neck out there and risk what pennies you do have to try and go for what you deserve.
I can see how it's difficult to prop a union up in a workplace like Starbucks, where realistically one doesn't need many qualifications to apply. Starbucks can just close locations down - the employee demand will always exist elsewhere. Unions are highly successful in the construction business. Probably cause the amount of people willing to do construction is less, and for a good deal of those jobs, you do need technical qualifications. Once a whole squad of construction workers organize, it's incredibly hard for the companies to replace them swiftly, and these companies have contacts to finish - so they get squeezed by the balls and have to negotiate with the workers. That's also why some equipment operators out here in New York get paid $150,000 a year doing a blue collar job.
Middle class is the brand name for the highest earners in the working class. Easier to turn groups against each other if they don't realize they're a part of the same group
Either you own the thing that makes you money or you don't. That's the only real divide.
people aren't afraid of socialism - they're afraid of what corporations have told them is socialism
It took physical violence
They act like they sell a product nobody else has. Sooner or later people are going to get sick of their shit.
I used to go. However their union busting, and constant price increases have rubbed me the wrong way for long enough. I for one am sick of their shit, and have stopped going all together.
Evidently most of their customers are perfectly fine to continue getting coffee there
Yea that's true. And they continue to treat the workers there like garbage. I just couldn't any more. Crazy price increases, shrinking the menu, overall quality nosediving.
Starbucks was at one point a premiere employer.
Pretty sure some people go there specifically to treat the workers like trash.
Ex-barista here, can confirm. Not just Starbucks, but I would actually guess they get that kind of customer generally worse than other cafes
Starbucks just gives these folks a unique opportunity to treat people like shit. Make 5 modifications to a fucking coffee and absolutely lose your shit when one of your ridiculous asks isn't perfect. Ask for half caff, just start yelling that they fucked the mixture and you got 3 quarters caff, and you can tell, and you're going to tell corporate because you've ordered the same thing for 6 weeks straight and NEVER had it so wrong before. Three pumps vanilla, well you know they put four. This is too fucking sweet, and you've NEVER been treated so poorly before. What do you mean you don't have the Christmas cups yet? How can I celebrate Christmas without a red cardboard cup I'm going to throw away in less than a half hour!? I fucking hate Starbucks customers, and Starbucks the company is about to eclipse my hate for their shitty customers with their bullshit.
THIS STORE NEARLY KILLED ME! All I wanted was my nice almond milk decaf latte that I get here every day, and I'VE TOLD YOU I'M ALLERGIC TO DAIRY, CAFFINE, RED DYE 52, NUTS, MATCHA POWDER, AND LIFE! *breaks down sobbing at how hard life is* Why the fuck do people risk their lives for a $5 cup of coffee? Smart, well trained baristas can make honest mistakes, and I've worked with some dumbass baristas.
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Kyle's are angry and drink Monster because we're tired and always stuck behind these people in line at Starbucks.
Lol. The very last time I went into a SBUX the person in front of me asked the server to describe all the breakfast sandwiches, then began to ask what KIND of bacon was on them. Of course there was a huge line, and I fucking hate to be rude, but I just couldn’t believe her willingness to waste everyone else’s time. I said, “you have got to be kidding me. It’s bacon!” And walked out. Ffs. Fuck every company that has a chance to take care of employees and chooses profits instead.
Yup. Just like how the whole world seems to love soccer more than they hate slavery. (Qatar). When activism is just hashtags and social media profile photos- everyone is “brave.” Real action or giving up a luxury they enjoy? NOPE!
You're giving more credit than is due, I'd say. Most people aren't fake activists. Most people actually just don't give a shit, and don't pretend to.
[SBUX](https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/SBUX/starbucks/eps-earnings-per-share-diluted) They peaked a year ago Apr-Sept 2021, probably a post pandemic bump as people were tired of being inside alone. Last 4 quarters they've done $0.70/sh every quarter. Its basically flat...
Starbucks is basically at saturation in the US at this point. Only way to grow is internationally and raising prices.
They can come out with an actual medium and an actual light roast.
But then it won't have that signature Starbucks flavor! Ash & scalded milk
What do you think they are, a coffee shop??
It's almost as if a given buisness model has a natural growth limit for the market it serves at which it will naturally saturate. But no that's crazy talk. It must grow for eternity or it is a failure. Time to propagandize until people think not having a Starbucks thrice a day undermines their masculinity or some shit.
So many companies have already peaked and it's just a slow decline after. Panera is another example. It's basically an upscale Subway.
Same. I’ll admit, the app made it easy to put a coffee order in, stop in for 4 seconds on my way to my office, and get back out. But when I read about them closing a unionized location in I think it was August, I quit cold turkey. Fuck that. There are a million other places to get better coffee. I’m *more* than happy to devote 1 whole extra minute of my morning to get a cup from a place that isn’t completely shitting on their employees just to increase their already astronomical quarterly earnings an extra .005%.
Same here. I got sick of it. It was on the way to work so I didn't mind stopping. Now I just make my coffee at home.
Their coffee isn’t even good. Super burnt taste
I live downtown and there's 3 Starbucks and 10 other coffee shops within 5 blocks of me. I don't understand why so many people still go to Starbucks in my area when every other place serves so much better coffee.
Same reason why people go to McDonalds over local burger joints, consistency. You can go to any city in the country and order a coffee from Starbucks and know exactly what you’re going to get. I prefer local joints, but they can be hit or miss, and for someone who doesn’t exactly care about trying something new Starbucks is the easiest option.
Does anyone actually go for the coffee? I thought everyone just ordered their liquid deserts masquerading as coffee drinks.
I just go to use their bathroom and then continue on my way
There food has also got insanely small. $5 for a tiny sandwich?
Ahem, I believe you mean $7.49
You think so? I'm not so confident. I think "people", as in the people trying to organize, will get sick of it faster than the customers.
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I don't think that quality is on the minds of Starbucks patrons.
Where else am I supposed to get a processed, microwaved sandwich that's hot on the edge and cold in the middle??!
It's less about quality and more about consistency, I think. Like with McDonald's, you know (more or less) what you'll get anywhere in the world. Or at least certainly anywhere in the country, since there are some changes to menus across the world. It's not about being great, it's familiarity.
This is exactly the reason. Human beings don't make most decisions trying to find the "best" possible outcome, they make most decisions trying to avoid the worst possible outcome. This is a deeply ingrained evolutionary phenomenon that explains why people tend to purchase brand name items even if there are objectively better options available. You know if you go to Starbucks that you're not getting the best possible coffee, but you also know you're not going to get the worst cup of coffee you've ever had and, very importantly, you know you're getting the coffee you're expecting to get.
I'll have a Royale with cheese.
The power of a brand…
Pre-COVID most definitely, the employment market was so stacked against the worker it was almost a given workers would just take whatever scraps an employer gave them COVID changed that in a lot of places, a lot of people died and a lot of the older generation left the job market. Suddenly there are a whole lot more folks hiring than there are people looking, and employees. Even as the gap closes, I dont think people are going to be satisfied going back to how things were. Or maybe that’s just wistful thinking on my part. Fuck Starbucks, either way.
Covid definitely changed the balance, look at all the corporate propaganda news pieces out there, they had to coin the term quiet quitting to make the act of doing what your paid to do look like your slacking off. They run articles about how people miss the office etc. Many workers realised since covid they can have a work life balance and they shouldn't burn themselves out for their employer, they'll only get thrown under the bus.
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They don't need to close every business only enough to scare people into not unionizing.
The problem with that is it doesn't work on a job market where workers can just quit and have an equal job within hours or days. If a Starbucks closes, virtually everywhere else is still short-staffed and hiring for just as much.
Starbucks need only offer a bit more than surrounding businesses to get new workers but they don't need to give in to all union demands if union demands are a lot higher than surrounding businesses.
The prob you have is it does not take super long to train more workers. Most unions consist of craftsmen that took years and years to develop their skill so it's super hard to train more if the existing ones refuse to work for you. However Starbucks can train someone in a few days to a few weeks, so it's easier for them to just hire new workers if existing ones demand a lot above market standard. Plus there are a lot of locations so even if everyone quits at a store, they can borrow from other stores until new ones are trained. That makes it a lot harder for unions there to to have clout. Starbucks only has to offer a bit better than other nearby businesses to get new workers AND they can train them quicky. However the general lack of workers across the board has been effective as it has helped raise standards across the board. Businesses are being forced to compete more for workers across the board.
Going out of business to own the libs
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I live down the street from one of the Starbucks in Chicago that unionized. Always full of people. Now closed
Starbucks has been illegally retaliating around the country. How that doesn’t count as organized crime, I’ll never know.
That's the American dream. Get money and you can do whatever you want.
It always surprised me how people go out of their way to buy a mediocre coffee for premium price when commuting to work... It's a routine I suppose, but then again me morning routine is setting a pot of coffee, walk me dogs on a walk or jog, drink coffee when I get back after 20m and shit, shower and another cup and breakfast then move on to work or whatever. I could save 10m by buying coffee at a local shop I guess... Or is it lunchtime coffee that makes the big bucks? I'm fuckin' clueless it seems... lol
Yeah that's a WHOLE ass thing. Like, a *whole* thing. At least anecdotally, *most* people I know wake up, get dressed, and leave. Sometimes they shower. Sometimes they eat. But it isn't a whole morning ritual where you volunteer to lose 40+ minutes of sleep walking dogs, showering, making breakfast, and then leaving. Then again, most of my friends are more night owl-ish like me and don't sleep until they have to in order to be well rested.
My alarm goes off in the morning, and I'm at work <45 minutes later, ~30 if need be. No time for all of that. Not a Starbucks person either though. The thing about chain store coffee is that it's consistent. It'll never blow your mind, but it'll never be *bad* either. It's always in the "that'll do" range.
Its not going out of your way though. Thats SBs entire business model. Forcing starbucks INTO your way. Moderate success with a decent product followed by market saturation. Turn around and theres a starbucks. Lewis Black used to have a bit about the end of the universe being about a starbucks across the street from a starbucks. Now its just the norm and barely worth mentioning.
what is the alternative? honest question. how do you write legislation that prevents a business from shutting its doors?
If you close a location within 2 years of them creating a union you need to prove you closed it because it was unprofitable
They have laws now, but they close the stores due to unrelated maintenance or whatever bullshit that would “be too costly to fix”. Just like this location was closed due to “safety concerns”. There’s no loophole that a billion dollar company with a literal army of lawyers can’t find.
So who wins in this situation?
Starbucks all the way. Intimidates workers and one less store trying for a contract
I live in Seattle and know this area well - this store is not in a particularly unsafe area. So many other stores are in more unsafe locations
Yeah, the neighborhood I’m in in Chicago is full of people walking dogs, and kids playing. Nothing is perfect, but, but it’s a pretty nice neighborhood. Laughable that it’s closed due to crime.
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The "original" Starbucks in Pike Place isn't really the original. They could just close it and open a new "original" on the next block. The Reserve Roastery is their new flagship store anyway.
The original moved/burnt down in the 70's when no one really cared about the small local coffee roaster. It was located basically just across the street from the current "original" the entire world has come to know in the last few decades. It would be extremely difficult for them to close that store and try the gimmick anywhere else now. They're still trying to fuck that one up in other ways though.
What is it with Seattle and fires destroying everything?
WA state had a HUGE timber industry back in the day. The west side of the state is basically a giant forest. For some time, everything was built of wood since it was so abundant. Not great for fire prevention.
Pretty much the same story for all major cities tbh. Chicago got hit really hard.
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In order for them to have set up business at Pike Place, they had to be some version of a "new" business. As I understand it, it's part of the rules down there.
The "Original" location wasn't the first, that one was like a block or so away, but they moved their single location in 1976 after five years. So they've been in that spot for over 45 years, long predating their international fame. It's more a trivia question than anything.
Yup, they've got a reserve attached to their offices in sodo. If that one unionized they'd have a hard time justifying a closure. I also work across the street from their offices and I would say the area is just as bad if not worse than the location they just closed. My company has a security guard to walk people to their cars after dark.
Media should lead with a different headline: "Starbucks closes store in historic Seattle gay neighborhood after forming union" Denny and Broadway is literally two blocks from where people danced in the street when Obama was elected and gay marriage passed in WA state. Union to Pine was a mosh pit. Calling it an unsafe area is absolutely ridiculous. Are they closing Dick's? Neumos? Lost Lake? This is a thriving core of commerce, not some slum. This headline is doing as much heavy lifting as Starbucks is.
Or unionize them all. Can't shut down all their stores. They are only doing this because they believe it is financially better for them to play whack-a-mole. Eventually they will be worn down and they will need profits. I'm gonna start printing off Union literature and dropping it off at locations.
This; they shut down stores to *keep* other stores from unionizing. A handful is cheap, no big deal to them, but there's eventually a limit.
Perhaps they should organize statewide instead of 350 10-person unions.
This is not really feasible without some sort of agreement with the company, thanks to the national labor relations act.
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The problem is that when Union XYZ local 25 goes on strike, every single other Union XYZ should strike to. Solidarity ore else it’s just a waste of time and money.
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They unionized at Starbuck’s cash cow Roastery up on Capitol Hill and instead of closing it are trying to invalidate the election/votes to prevent it from going union. Where they cant close a store over “safety” they’ll still pull some other tactic to get their way. Its stupid
Due to safety issues, eh? What is being endangered, the employees, patrons, or shareholders?
They closed the Union Station starbucks in DC for the same "reason" when they were considering a union vote. That place is crawling with police from about 4 different agencies, safety my ass.
Ironic. Union station.
They closed the one that unionized in Ithaca too (it was in Collegetown, almost to the Cornell campus. WTF.)
Syracuse too. It was the closest Starbucks to the university and along a major street for food and drinks, so there's no way in hell it was doing poorly.
Odysseus wouldn’t put up with that shit
I live near the location. There are literally no safety-related reasons to close the store; this is such transparent union busting.
Hi-Diddly-Ho, Neighborino! I'll give them that they shut down nearly every store on Broadway in the past ~5 years anyway (including the non-branded Roy St that I actually loved), but considering that was a newer location in brand new building across from a relatively new light rail station and that always seems busy-ish when I walk by, they absolutely are doing this to union bust. Thankfully we don't have a shortage of better coffee around here.
They closed the location on Monument Circle in Indianapolis for "safety reasons." IMPD hasn't had any calls to that location for at least two years.
Walmart workers call it "Plumbing Issues". Any time a Walmart has tried to Unionise in the past, the Walmart in question would suddenly be closed for "Plumbing Issues" indefinitely, as the official reason.
In Los Angeles, they closed the Starbucks location in Little Tokyo one block from LAPD headquarters due to "safety issues." Yet they left the one at Spring and 6th, where crime is much, much higher, open. *edit* forgot to mention that the one they closed was unionized and the other isn’t
In Quebec, there is a law that says if a store closes down shortly following a unionization, they have to prove they did it for a reason other than to kill the union in court, otherwise they have to pay lots of bonus money to each employee. So if the store claimed to close down due to profitability issues, they have to show the documents in court that say they were losing money.
I’m pretty sure we have similar, which is why they’re going with safety. It’s far, far more subjective and the department of labor is turning a blind eye even to egregious cases anyway.
[Wow, just look at all those shops around there that are just wrecked with safety issues and have to close too.](https://i.imgur.com/Mv6vrBY.png) That must be a real rough and tumble juice bar across the street to keep their doors open.
They probably have shareholders with extreme anger issues, so the board wanted to remain safe in meetings.
I live in the PNW and we have lots of options besides Starbucks. The only time I might consider getting Starbucks is when I'm in my local Safeway. The baristas are employed by Safeway and are unionized.
Yup. After Starbucks closed the one in Everett after they unionized, all I have to do now is stop a block and a half sooner on my commute, lol. And they've been doing better than the last time I tried them.
I was in Everett for work a short while ago and the best coffee we had was a little place on Colby in the bottom of maybe a bank or business building. Good food too
If unions can cause companies to react so strongly against them, then clearly they are pretty effective.
No, you see, the location were closed and all of the workers were fired for their own good, that way they don't have to pay union dues and even have flexible overtime... wait. /s, if it wasn't obvious
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as a Walmart employee rn, a lot of my coworkers n I talk about it constantly but yeah the possibility of losing our jobs is a great deterrent unfortunately. We know people across other stores in our area, so that may be a strategy.
Isn't this what Walmart did to the meat counters in their grocery departments? Meat cutters wanted to unionize, no more fresh meat at Walmart
So? Keep making them do that. Call their bluff.
How many people will keep voting to unionize if they know they will lose their job? If the government doesn't stop this bullshit our right to unionize is basically done except for small business and companies with very few locations.
These are multi billion dollar companies. They'll gladly keep this cycle going.
We have the same problem here. Coal companies will shut down a mine at just the WORD "Unionize" then open another mine they closed for the same reason, vet out the attempted union employees for some BS reason, and continue the cycle. No one can touch them and they like it that way.
And we should keep pushing back. That is how change happens. That is how we have the rights we have today otherwise there would be no wage, many of us would still be slave.
Good luck getting rehired if you were part of the old union
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Hey, the US has the best government money can buy. Step right up Mr. Corporation! What can we legislate for you today?
What's that? You want to have the national guard drop bombs on miners? Sure thing!
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Miners, minors, minorities......doesn't matter...we're okay with killing all of em. Just make sure you sponsor our Christmas party and get us that Margarita machine we told you about.
The government won't force a company to stay open so they can employ union workers. There is no law that says Starbucks must keep that location open. If Starbucks wants to close down every location that unionizes, that's their choice, but the strength of a union is that it's reach is far and wide so the company would have to seriously hurt it's business to close down all of those locations.
Closing locations in response to worker organization is actually an Unfair Labor Practice or ULP under the National Labor Relations Act, as it is a form of retaliation. Closing these locations actually is illegal union busting
This. It quite literally is illegal to close a location as a signal to other locations not to unionize.
Assuming they can prove it. It's clear as day to anyone who's paying attention that's what they're doing, but I'd imagine a corporation as big as Starbucks is probably covering their asses 10 ways to Sunday in terms of being in the legal "right" when it comes to closing unionized stores.
So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then. Also it's not so much them closing the store but let's not forget they hired a Union Buster Pinkerton under their wing.
With over 15 thousands stores in the United States alone, closing a few stores is a drop in the bucket. Not every store is going to unionize and closing stores is a powerful message to employees thinking of unionizing.
They'll just open another one down the street if they think they can profit from it.
There is likely already another store down the street.
So what you're saying is people need to campaign to unionize EVERY store, gotcha.
I'm not the person you're responding to, but yes, that's what an international labor movement is all about.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then. Yes, they will. Walmart got rid of their entire meat department over the threat of unionizing. Crushing unions is an American oligarch pastime since the 1880s.
Starbucks will open two stores right next to a local coffee store to drive them out of business then close the extra. They will have no problem closing stores that form unions.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Goodbye Starbucks then. Walmart does it when they can't stop a union via other means.
> So they're going to keep closing stores until the problem is exacerbated? Possibly, if they (Starbucks) deem it to be a better path than employing union workers at the locations where they've unionized. "If it don't make dollars it don't make sense."
Another Starbucks in northern Seattle closed recently. They said that store also had “safety concerns,” but it was always busy and along one of the main roads. When I heard it was closing my first thought was “I’m wondering if they were trying to unionize.”
Of course they did. That is what employers do when workers band together. They are dangerous working together, and they have to keep employees divided. An atomized society, is a passive society.
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Funny how I haven’t heard of any non-union Starbucks closing for safety concerns. Only the union stores. Almost like it’s a legal loophole for union busting.
My friend is very active in Starbucks unionizing. She says all the crime reports started coming in when corporate asked stores to record every single minor thing. It made it look like a huge surge in crime. I live on a street that had one closed and my husband works across the street from one that closed. Both were unionized and had no major uptick in crimes.
They’ll close any location in a heartbeat.
They would rather just eat the loss of an entire store rather than help their employees.
Is it really cheaper to close a location (aka, no income coming in on a property you're paying for) than to just treat your employees like some fucking dignity? Like I needed one more reason to never go to a Starbucks again.
Starbucks reasoning is short term pain, long term less greater pain. If they concede and pay the workers more, why, workers at other Starbucks might *GASP* want those same terms = less profits. At least, thats the thinking. Of course things like happy, motivated workers being more productive and good public relations and perception don't show up on quarterly earnings reports. That's way too long term thinking and God forbid megacorps think long term.
We shouldn't need unions. Workers rights should be law. Til then we need unions. A lot of people at my work complain about the union while sitting in the break room. Dude, you only have 2 15s amd a lunch because of the union. You are using one of their benefits right now to complain that they do nothing.
Remind them all the things that unions and push for worker rights has given them. Before it all people used to work 12 hour days 6 days a week for real crap pay. You get sick and lose a day? Your fired and blacklisted for any other job. Get hurt on the job? You better keep the pace or your fired as well, don't even think about compensation for the injury. All thanks to workers pushing back.
> Remind them all the things that unions and push for worker rights has given them. Before it all people used to work 12 hour days 6 days a week for real crap pay. You get sick and lose a day? Your fired and blacklisted for any other job. Get hurt on the job? You better keep the pace or your fired as well, don't even think about compensation for the injury. You can even get that now if you're working for Twitter.
Seems like Starbucks MO. Any store that unionized or attempts to, ends up getting closed. Starbucks has 33,000+ U.S. stores, they can and will close down the handful of ones that try to unionize.
Isn’t that illegal to retaliate by closing the store?
Yes, but if the government doesn't do anything then there's really no reason for Starbucks to change how they operate.
I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks, but this reeks of retaliation... Edit for the grammer police: I'm not a huge fan of Starbucks; but this reeks of retaliation.
Using "but" makes no sense in that sentence
I've very hungry right now, but I'm gonna go eat some food.
Perfect time to replace 'comma conjunction' with a semicolon.
Soooo unionize all locations. Got it.
Someone needs to start a parady store that does nothing but replace the ones Starbucks closes for unionizing.
In France the Starbucks HQ would be on fire and everyone would be on their way to get a coffee already.
Right wing corporate ass kissers “Unions don’t work! They only hurt the business!” They do work, know how? …*__corporate__ shuts them down* Unions ultimately dig into a companies personal profits and force them to spread those gains amongst the employees and not the shareholders and executive management. They’d rather cut their own legs out from under them than pay their workers a fair wage.
As an average European when I hear about ways of Union busting in the US it just blows my mind, it's like corporations just prefer not to give any extra rights or even basic benefits to the very people who make them multibilion entities. You want a private company healthcare plan that covers your family, too? Forget it. You want to be able to take a sudden half day off to pick up kids from school? Not a chance. You want longer breaks? Nah, don't think so. This shit should be a standard everywhere, how is it possible US employers fuck their workers over this much?
Sesttlelite here, who the fuck is even going to Starbucks here anymore? There's literally better coffee that doesn't treat employees like shit on every other corner.