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Starbucks' unionized workers plan walkout on "Red Cup Day" this week (www.cbsnews.com)

submitted 7 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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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."

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[-] _number8_@lemmy.world 126 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 61 points 7 months ago

Businesses used to give their workers Christmas bonuses for doing things like that.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago

and i love how after 2020 now it’s just par for the course for restaurants to always be understaffed because it’s cheaper.

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"

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[-] LateToTheCuttingEdge@lemmy.world 61 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] CoderKat@lemm.ee 17 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

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.

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[-] interceder270@lemmy.world 39 points 7 months ago

Wow, Unions work.

I guess this is why the ruling class and useful idiots are so against them.

[-] helenslunch@feddit.nl 38 points 7 months ago

I haven't bought anything at a Starbucks in several years so, I'm doing my part 👍

Make your coffee at home folks, it ain't hard.

[-] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 16 points 7 months ago

Or support a local Cafe that treats their workers right. Can be hard to find, but they do exist.

[-] interceder270@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

I'll support them if they give me a better deal, lol.

I always find it funny how local places are like "yeah buy local buy local, it's so important. No, it's not important enough for us to give you a better deal."

[-] alphabetsheep@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

I hear ya on that. My philosophy is that if I'm going out for coffee I'll pay for a good one from a local Cafe. Most mornings I'll make it at home to compensate for the cost.

[-] IMALlama@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Things are generally cheaper when you buy more of them. It's true that once you pass a certain threshold this isn't as significant, but that threshold can be pretty high.

Then you get into things like commodities trading (eg buying and maybe even selling futures), which is something Starbucks engages in. It would be very hard for a small shop to participate in commodities trading (barriers of entry due to size, time in the day, etc), let alone do it well.

There's also a bunch of little things that ar a "do it once for all stores" or "do it once for a single store". At a mom and pop that usually means that they won't be able to do it as well as a bigger store because of time and resource constraints.

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[-] Tygr@lemmy.world 24 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 6 points 7 months ago

Just don't order. Take up space inside but never order. Don't give them money.

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[-] art@lemmy.world 24 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 23 points 7 months ago

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.

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[-] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 21 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 7 points 7 months ago

They play music in there, and it's Christmas time. You're gonna be poopin' to that song.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] lm7@lemmy.ml 8 points 7 months ago

So, you're saying Starbucks restrooms are a good thing, providing what are effectively public accommodations when the city won't.

[-] StorminNorman@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

Please, I've gone to the toilets on day 5 of a 5 day music festival. Nothing toilet wise scares me anymore.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 6 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] grue@lemmy.world 21 points 7 months ago

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.

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[-] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 19 points 7 months ago

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.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago

Was that after your friends died in an Orange Mocha Frapachino fueled freak accident gasoline fight.

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[-] gamingdexter@lemmy.ml 17 points 7 months ago

Some of the stores by us today have their keyhole glued so no one can get in

[-] S_204@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

There's no way there's no cameras.... the cops work for Corps, those hero's are getting the book thrown at them.

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this post was submitted on 15 Nov 2023

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