Starbucks Strike!

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Got ourselves a barista strike Starbucks strike here. Okay Los Angeles Chicago and Seattle here the union representing Starbucks workers said that baristas in Los Angeles Chicago Seattle walked off the job and the strikes are gonna spread to hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve unless the company gets

its improved wage offer. Again, the union, which represents baristas at more than 500 company owned stores, about 5 % of the total US said a call to strike after a bargaining session failed to produce better wage gains. Again, I’m looking at some of the demands here.

some of the demands again.

kind of make this perfectly clear. You’re a barista, right? Just fine. Again, I worked in the service industry for very long time. I wasn’t I again, I was kind of like a quasi barista, the Italian restaurant that I worked at in Manhattan. Yeah, I was responsible as bartender, I had to make cappuccinos, espressos, all that stuff.

behind the bar for the entire restaurant, my customers at the bar. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, there’s no such thing as a Frappuccino. No self-respecting Italian would ever actually drink one. But anyway, neither here nor there. You’re a barista. Work behind the bar. I’m not a big fan of Starbucks coffee. I don’t like it. If I have to have it, I need a cup of coffee. I’m at an airport. Yeah, I’ll have it.

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And again, you go up and you order and, you know, they ask you to tip before you’ve actually even been served, you know, because you got to pay first. Let’s just say, sorry, I’m no longer tipping baristas here, but let’s go through some of the demands that they have here. Well, you know what we do first. We’ll do we’ll do pay. OK, we’ll do pay. This is what they’re asking.

Base wage for all workers of at least $20 an hour.

In some higher than these cities because it’s a higher cost of living they want it to be $25 and 40 cents an hour annual raise they want of 5 % plus cost of adjustments Seniority raises based upon longevity past job experience factored into the base wage Retirement retirement all

All employees must have a 401k plan and contributions must be made by Starbucks into the 401k plan. Schedules. Lack of sufficient hours and inconsistent schedules leads to economic instability and hardship, whether due to childcare, schooling or holding another job. This proposal demands a scheduling and hours policy.

establishes a fair process to obtain consistent schedules, overtime vacation, and more without favoritism. Guarantees full-time status. You’re a full-time worker, meaning you’re going to get benefits for people that work an average of 32 hours a week or more. And full benefits as well for anybody working less than 20 hours a week. Assistant to guarantee one hours each.

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week, including a four hour minimum with significant changes to the schedule discussed with the Joint Labor Management Committee. Guidelines for a 15 minute paid break choice of 30 to 16 minute unpaid break overtime pay shift premiums training and all sorts of other stuff. Vacation time guaranteed faster accrual of vacation based on total years of service.

sick time, all employees earn up to 13 paid sick days a year.

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A crude but unused sick time will be rolled over to the following year.

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13 paid six days. so, right, we’re doing a run number five day, but it’s almost three weeks right now. All employees will be paid for…

10 holidays, regardless of whether they work on that holiday. Employees that actually do work on the holiday will be paid time and a half their base rate.

Again, family. health care, health care plans offered by the company. Again, they say we all deserve high quality health care without it coming out of our paychecks. Affordable and 100 percent employer paid care. Co-pays capped at a ten dollar maximum, which is probably the most expensive plan that you can get.

Good luck with that.

Good luck with that. If I was Starbucks, I would say, okay, fine, we’re shutting the store down. Again, I’d shut down every store in all those cities. You can’t make money.

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You’re selling coffee at a price already.

You’re gonna start charging people 10, 15 bucks a cup of coffee?

Again, I’m running Starbucks right now. Again, you know I’d do if I was doing it in those cities? I said, okay, we’re gonna, you know what, we’re gonna change the concept in these cities. You want these types of benefits? What about like an Italian cafe? Like one that’s actually in Italy. You’re getting rid of all the BS coffee drinks you’re just doing, you know, the normal cappuccino, espresso, no takeout.

No, no, that takeout nonsense. Okay, where people are lined up using apps. No, no, no, no, you come in Italy, you pay two different prices, you sit down, you have to pay more to sit in coffee. You standing up at the bar having it there, but no, you’re paying less. That’s what I would do in all three of those cities. And then you have a lot less workers. lot less workers, I’d look work to make it very much like an Italian place, I’d get a you know,

liquor license, you know, whatnot and handle it that way. This is not possible. You’re a barista. You’re demanding starting pay at $20 an hour up to $25 an hour plus benefits.

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plus vacation time, plus 13 days sick. I mean, are you kidding me? I haven’t taken 13 sick days in my entire life. In fact, I don’t remember the last time I had a sick day. yeah, yeah, I was in the hospital. I had no choice, I couldn’t work that day.

They’ve lost their minds. Again, I would deal with this. If I was a kid, I’d like, okay, we can’t do it. You know what? We’re gonna change the, have a different concept, Starbucks, in those cities. This is the way we’re gonna have to do things. We can’t run a coffee shop like this, they can’t.

It’s not gonna be profitable. There’s no way shape matter of form unless you’re charging a ridiculous amount for coffee the people just are not gonna pay But again, you’re a barista man And I’m sorry, you’re kind of ruining for everybody else. I’m pretty good about Tiffy. I don’t don’t ask me. again You know a point of sale before I’ve been served. Don’t ask me for a tip. You’re denied now I mean you guys are pigs watchdog on wall street dot com