Starbucks employees are getting more pay and new benefits, but some are only going to baristas that haven’t unionized. A National Labor Relations Board judge previously found that similar moves by Starbucks violate federal labor law, with the company appealing the decision.
The question of which workers get what perks and benefits has been one part of a bitter fight between Starbucks and union organizers across the country. Since the first location voted to unionize nearly two years ago, Starbucks has fought aggressively against the union drive. The NLRB has said that in some cases, the company engaged in illegal practices, with Starbucks refuting these claims.
As of mid-October, nearly 360 stores had voted in favor of a union, with the results certified by the NLRB. About 70 voted against, with those results certified. There are roughly 9,300 company-operated Starbucks locations in the United States.
Starbucks is really trying hard to ruin the reputation they built over the last 30 years. This is the reason i don’t go to Starbucks anymore.
That and a business model that essentially ran every mom and pop shop out of business
Yep they’ve always been dystopian. The Walmart of coffee
Eh, I don’t think this really tracks all that well. While it may vary by location, there are countless independent and small cafés in pretty much every city I’ve ever lived in. They generally have focus on having actually good coffee over the Starbucks style of ash water with syrup, but those are pretty distinct markets anyway.
It’s probably more true in small towns/villages than in larger areas.
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McD’s coffee is really good. They changed it a bunch of years ago, and it got so much better. It’s my personal favorite for drive-thru coffee.
They bought out the old Tim Horton supplier. Now TH is trash.
Really? I never knew that. With that in mind, I now understand why the People of the North loved Tim Horton’s so much, and have vocally lamented its decline in quality.
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I feel like Starbucks is bad coffee. It’s an excellent coffee-flavored carrier for syrups and creams, so if you want a dessert drink, it’s great. But if all you want is coffee, it’s flat burnt shit.
I’ve had an Americano from Starbucks (espresso, water, nothing else) and it was fine.
I wouldn’t get regular black coffee from any chain place, though. Drip coffee in particular is just nasty, sometimes even through trying to mask it with cream and sugar.
It’s $5 of milk and sugar with a splash of McDonald’s coffee.
Union members will get whatever increases were locked in last year, which vary. That means that many workers will get the 3% or 4% hike, and some the 5%, even if they are unionized. But the company will not offer new increases in pay, or vacation accrual benefits, to unionized workers — unless it is forced to concede those based on collective bargaining negotiations.
Not to be mean, but a 5% increase on a $15 an hour job is like an extra $0.75.
Did they think this was bargain power? What the people who are non-unionized every year get a free soda? And that was supposed to make them jealous?
I think they are poking a bear, they should be leaving alone.
That’s about the annual raise I get at my job and it’s an office job. Why yes, it does suck.
That amount doesn’t even keep up with inflation. We’re all getting pay cuts every year.
Exactly. I am on FMLA right now, so I am not even getting paid. But I’m using the time to look for another job.
I hope they poke harder. This seems to be the year of unions rising up. Let the Starbucks union gain some more power and maybe the effect snowballs some more.
ok? I mean that’s how unions work. does starbucks think they won or something?
Starbucks employees are getting more pay and new benefits, but some are only going to baristas that haven’t unionized.
I think this is the important part. They’re trying to incentives non-unions.
right, this is the pizza party. it’s a short term benefit that is not likely going to be maintained in order to pull people from the union. but with a union, you can just negotiate for those things. which is… why they unionized in the first place. starbucks is dangling a carrot trying to save the farm.
Yes, that’s probably it, but also I think unions have to negotiate any change to the contract collectively. Even giving a union member more money is breach of contract. Starbucks would be exposed to union action if they did so. Of course, this depends on how the contract is written. This certainly seems anti-union but it’s also a smartass CYA on behalf of Starbucks. The union will raise hell immediately as they should.
Union contracts can set minimum wages and minimum rules for raises and allow individual negotiations above that. Far from all union contracts require exactly equal pay
Also that’s probably illegal to do
So everyone should remain upset about the illegality of this, and how it’s anti-union.
But it’s also good news because they’ve shifted focus. They’re focused on disincentivizing unions rather than directly shutting down unionized locations. They probably can’t afford to shut down unionized locations anymore.
This is quite the de-escalation. This will continue on this trend, which is why all current and further anti-union activity must be challenged.
Do you want strikes? Because that’s how you get strikes.
Any business that asks for a tip in the dive thru doesn’t get my business. It’s a fucking drive thru
Glad the workers are getting more pay.
