Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Starbucks Union Seniority Question (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by StarbzBoi
Hey Everyone,
so a group of close friends/ partners from my store were talking when we went out for drinks the other night after work about a unionized Starbucks store would look in terms of seniority based systems which are typical (not always) of a unionized work environment. Being a partner and barista for over 10 years myself I couldn’t agree more that tenure partners should be getting paid much better then a new barista based off knowledge and skills of the job. This got us talking how would a seniority based union at our store change request off and scheduling preferences. Seeing how the pandemic massively changed the labor force perspective on work/life balance and the need to enjoy and secure your time away from work this seems relevant now more then ever. Being with the store as long as I have I always plan my life out in advance and have request offs in the book well in advance and I’ve heard more then I can even remember at this point of new baristas complaining they couldn’t get time off because the manager told them that they were too many request already approved in the books long before they even started. I also have seen new partners upset that they were hired to “meet a business need” of opening/closing staff but that long time partners like me set our availability to m-f 7-5 and when they try to change it are told they don’t meet that business need anymore. I am all for them getting their requested time off (Starbucks should just staff more) and their preferred schedule ( Starbucks should offer premium pay for harder to staff day parts) but those are just my suggestions on those points. I guess what I was wondering was given the issues I already see with tenure/seniority in the 10 years I’ve been here then what would it look like under a union??
1st Note: one of the my partners having this discussion argued that the contract is what we make it and it doesn’t have to be seniority based besides pay, but if tenured partners are the ones negotiating these contracts are they going to want that advantage?
2nd Note: looked up this topic on the unionize Starbucks sub and most of the conversation was dominated by talks of seniority based promotion which in our environment I don’t know ANY partners or company representative that would want anything but merit based promotion in a contract.
3rd Note: I know NO ONE has a CBA yet because Starbucks is dragging it’s big stupid corporate feet forever to sit down at a bargaining table but hopefully comes to the table as promised this month.
Thanks for listening to my talk:) hope for some good perspectives
so a group of close friends/ partners from my store were talking when we went out for drinks the other night after work about a unionized Starbucks store would look in terms of seniority based systems which are typical (not always) of a unionized work environment. Being a partner and barista for over 10 years myself I couldn’t agree more that tenure partners should be getting paid much better then a new barista based off knowledge and skills of the job. This got us talking how would a seniority based union at our store change request off and scheduling preferences. Seeing how the pandemic massively changed the labor force perspective on work/life balance and the need to enjoy and secure your time away from work this seems relevant now more then ever. Being with the store as long as I have I always plan my life out in advance and have request offs in the book well in advance and I’ve heard more then I can even remember at this point of new baristas complaining they couldn’t get time off because the manager told them that they were too many request already approved in the books long before they even started. I also have seen new partners upset that they were hired to “meet a business need” of opening/closing staff but that long time partners like me set our availability to m-f 7-5 and when they try to change it are told they don’t meet that business need anymore. I am all for them getting their requested time off (Starbucks should just staff more) and their preferred schedule ( Starbucks should offer premium pay for harder to staff day parts) but those are just my suggestions on those points. I guess what I was wondering was given the issues I already see with tenure/seniority in the 10 years I’ve been here then what would it look like under a union??
1st Note: one of the my partners having this discussion argued that the contract is what we make it and it doesn’t have to be seniority based besides pay, but if tenured partners are the ones negotiating these contracts are they going to want that advantage?
2nd Note: looked up this topic on the unionize Starbucks sub and most of the conversation was dominated by talks of seniority based promotion which in our environment I don’t know ANY partners or company representative that would want anything but merit based promotion in a contract.
3rd Note: I know NO ONE has a CBA yet because Starbucks is dragging it’s big stupid corporate feet forever to sit down at a bargaining table but hopefully comes to the table as promised this month.
Thanks for listening to my talk:) hope for some good perspectives
clouds183 5 points 9m ago
1st note: who said tenured partners are the only ones negotiating the contract? your specific store needs majority of baristas to sign before its official, so unless your store has majority tenured partners then it shouldn’t be an issue. everyone gets a voice.
on 2nd note: seniority based promotion doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have to be qualified for the promotion. obviously if they can’t handle the extra roles then management will choose whoever is qualified over them. but out of the ones that are qualified, they’d likely choose the one that has been there the longest.
I’ve had baristas who have been applying for ssv positions for months but constantly were told they’d be promoted by our sm and then not chosen. the sm would joke about it and not actually promote them. but the second a newer barista wants the position she gets immediately promoted no questions asked because of favoritism.
on 2nd note: seniority based promotion doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have to be qualified for the promotion. obviously if they can’t handle the extra roles then management will choose whoever is qualified over them. but out of the ones that are qualified, they’d likely choose the one that has been there the longest.
I’ve had baristas who have been applying for ssv positions for months but constantly were told they’d be promoted by our sm and then not chosen. the sm would joke about it and not actually promote them. but the second a newer barista wants the position she gets immediately promoted no questions asked because of favoritism.
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