Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Starbucks workers at Victoria outlet vote to join Steelworkers union (timescolonist.com)
submitted by [deleted]
[deleted] [OP] 3 points 2y ago
ok. so at store in Victoria BC 30 Baristas voted to join the SteelWorkers union.
Now, all the way in Eastern Canada, four (five?) time zones away, our DM is having ZOOM meetings to talk about unionizing.
I'm joining a conference call today at 5pm EST and will report back. My guess is they will sound something like this:
> “And while we are disappointed with this result and respect the free choice of our partners to affiliate with unions, we believe a direct relationship with partners is the best way to create and maintain a great work environment,” the company said.
(from the article)
If you're sick of being over worked and underpaid to make money for shareholders as they sleep, as they exploit coffee farmers in the global south, as they maintain a polluting industry (dairy, mass market consumption of plastics etc in general) consider talking to your fellow workers, those you can trust, those who want the same things as you, and consider calling the steelworker's union in your area for more information.
the steelworkers union contacts: $1
Warning, the Quebec line is kinda fucked for some reason, no one answered and the automated menu didnt work. I had to leave a message.
I called the BC branch and they were very excited to hear from me and to hear that the news made waves all across the country.
Now, all the way in Eastern Canada, four (five?) time zones away, our DM is having ZOOM meetings to talk about unionizing.
I'm joining a conference call today at 5pm EST and will report back. My guess is they will sound something like this:
> “And while we are disappointed with this result and respect the free choice of our partners to affiliate with unions, we believe a direct relationship with partners is the best way to create and maintain a great work environment,” the company said.
(from the article)
If you're sick of being over worked and underpaid to make money for shareholders as they sleep, as they exploit coffee farmers in the global south, as they maintain a polluting industry (dairy, mass market consumption of plastics etc in general) consider talking to your fellow workers, those you can trust, those who want the same things as you, and consider calling the steelworker's union in your area for more information.
the steelworkers union contacts: $1
Warning, the Quebec line is kinda fucked for some reason, no one answered and the automated menu didnt work. I had to leave a message.
I called the BC branch and they were very excited to hear from me and to hear that the news made waves all across the country.
[deleted] [OP] 1 points 2y ago
[deleted]
[deleted] [OP] 2 points 2y ago
>The thing that astounds me about all the zoom calls and “town hall meetings” we are having is that my higher ups make it sound as though it’s the fault of that stores management. Not Starbucks itself. ..... hours not available, taking away the bonus pay, unsafe amount of people in the store etc..
Exactly!!!! The zoom meeting we had today was insane!
She started by saying when she heard the news that a store unionized she was shocked. "We support the rights of our partners to exercise their labour rights, but it saddens me" It FUCKING SADDENS YOU? What? That we're exercising our rights?
Easy solution to make things smooth with a union: work with them and be open/give into demands. That's it, thats all we want. If you're against that, then you were against us before we had a union too, it was just easier for you to not do anything about it.
She kept coming back to "the best solution is to have a good relationship with your manager". and we were all like "cool, we have one, our manager has experienced how shitty it is to work for starbucks on the floor first hand and we still don't see anything get done".
Her response is to pick us out one by one and say she'll deal with each individual issue... welll individually. We're not individuals though, not as workers. We all face the same problems, we all want the same things: better pay, easier work, better benefits, safer conditions. But we don't get a vote on any of that stuff. With union we do.
If you're canadian, reach out to your local branch/closest branch of the Union for steelworkers, the union that the BC store joined. Im trying to get in contact with an organizer from there and with someone from the store in BC.
People in my district are excited about the prospect of collective worker's action under the protection and leadership of a union. This is big. Talk about, share it.
Exactly!!!! The zoom meeting we had today was insane!
She started by saying when she heard the news that a store unionized she was shocked. "We support the rights of our partners to exercise their labour rights, but it saddens me" It FUCKING SADDENS YOU? What? That we're exercising our rights?
Easy solution to make things smooth with a union: work with them and be open/give into demands. That's it, thats all we want. If you're against that, then you were against us before we had a union too, it was just easier for you to not do anything about it.
She kept coming back to "the best solution is to have a good relationship with your manager". and we were all like "cool, we have one, our manager has experienced how shitty it is to work for starbucks on the floor first hand and we still don't see anything get done".
Her response is to pick us out one by one and say she'll deal with each individual issue... welll individually. We're not individuals though, not as workers. We all face the same problems, we all want the same things: better pay, easier work, better benefits, safer conditions. But we don't get a vote on any of that stuff. With union we do.
If you're canadian, reach out to your local branch/closest branch of the Union for steelworkers, the union that the BC store joined. Im trying to get in contact with an organizer from there and with someone from the store in BC.
People in my district are excited about the prospect of collective worker's action under the protection and leadership of a union. This is big. Talk about, share it.
[deleted] [OP] 1 points 2y ago
In my province it's legal to record a conversation you're a part of without informing the other parties. I recorded the conference call and will be cutting the 40minutes down to a super cut of the juicy bits of conversation. Hopefully it can help folks realize that we all are in the same boat. We're all being fed the same BS line about being "a family" or "partners".
BaroquesCafe 1 points 2y ago
Not sure how it is in Canada, but I worked in employment law for a hot second here in the US. Here, it’s illegal for management to try and use any methods to break up the idea of unionizing. That includes emotional coercion, the threat of getting in trouble and retaliation
[deleted] [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Same here. Ill definitely be having a third party look at the recording.
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