Claim: Union-organizing barista is "under attack" by Starbucks

Let's see now: You try to organize at Starbucks. You fail. And you expect to continue to work there without being hassled? C'mon. (InfoShop News)

Comments

Yes, people should be black-balled for demanding their rights.

[PigDog]

Having a job is not a right. Firing employees that spit in the eye of their employer, they are free to do so. Unions are nothing more then marxist propogadists anymore. They are not looking out for the best intrests of their members they are out to put money in the hands of 'the party' (so to speak). If the employees of Starbucks are being denied any rights, the Labor board or DoE (or whatever it's called in the state) is more then equiped to handle it. You don't need some blood sucking third party to do so. Remember people you don't 'deserve' what they give you in benefits and compensation, you EARN it. If you arn't earning enough where you are, find a new job or work harder. Simple as that.

Let's agree to disagree PigDog.

[IronCrow]

Well PigDog if you like 40 hour work weeks, safe work environments, weekends off and benifits then you should probably look at history and thank the Unions. I love the banter that is splayed around whenever a group of people on the lower rungs of a company try to organize and stand up for their rights as a portion of a company. Its always, communist that, and marxism this. Putting a lable on something does not rmeove its validity. Companies are doing everything they can to outsource jobs, remove benifits and keep workers in their places. Now that the economy is bad, the very same companies that were pandering and over benifiting employees during the .com boom are now cutting staff, removing bonuses and raises, and still expecting more production of product than they were with the larger staff. In short, work more, for less, we know you cant get another job so we are going to screw you. The only thing to do is to stand up as a group and use the only power we have, and that is to halt the production for a time. If an employer has a piece of equipment that is critical to the job to be performed, and they abuse and neglect that equipment, it ceases to operate and thus cost the employee time lost and production. In short if they are going to treat us like machinery then we will take the maltreatement and abuse like a machine and cease performance. We stand together and we are strong. Thats not Marxism, thats the American spirit that spawned the revolutionary war. Difference is that the king now is corporations and we will not stand by while the work we do is taken for granted. Quit being a corporate suck up and figure out whats right and wrong. Companies like walmart come into a town, outprice every other little mom and pop store with inferior products then mom and pop have no recourse but to work at the only employer left. That corporate domination is rampant. And the employees are treated like cattle to be culled and sent out to pasture on the whim of a bean counter. And if all of this is so great for our economic infrastructure then why are we still in such a bind economically?

[tori]

AMEN!!!

[Scott T.]

Bad arguments against unions, generally speaking:

* If it's such a bad place to work, get another job

- Except, other jobs are probably just as bad or worse than the one you have. A good union is a true and trusted advocate for the interests all workers at a particular work place. When common interests coincide, workers can band together without fear of retribution to improve conditions, making the job more tolerable. Having an independent organization representing workers interests (i.e., not some bullshit, company-sponsored grievance process that nobody trusts) can be a great thing for a business. Some employers even recognize this. Of course, not all unions are "true and trusted advocates." They can be corrupt, short-sited and ineffective. But that's not universally the case.

* They do nothing for their workers and are simply serving an outdated ideology

- IronCrow does a good job on this one.

[PigDog]

Just a few things ...
I beleive in other posts I've stated that I beleive unions had their time and place and that time and place is no longer here and now.

As far as labling something Marxist or Communist, if it's a valid lable then why the problem. Those ideas, as proven by history, do not work. I'm simply pointing out these are the same old, failed ideas with a new name.

People have lost their '.com' era benefits because people where overcompensated. The economy was operating at an unsustainable rate. There where alot of people not producing anything, yet getting paid like they where. Using the '.com' oddity as any basis for comparision is bunk.

Again, I say, if it's such a bad place, get another job! I go by places every day with help wanted signs, just because it's not as HIP as working at StarBucks doesn't make it any less of a job. Why not start your own business? Make your own way!

As far as outsourcing goes ... I can only speak for IT related jobs, but, most of those 'outsourced' jobs people are worried about are for jobs we couldn't keep a damn American in! Or, because of the .com stuff, they expected to get paid alot more then their services where worth. The industry drove itself to job loss via outsourcing. But that's a diffrent discussion and not related to Starbucks

[Kristen Keyes]

"most of those 'outsourced' jobs people are worried about are for jobs we couldn't keep a damn American in!" I would have to disagree. Living in Ohio, we've lost a lot of high paying manufacturing jobs with benefits over the last 10 years. If the jobs are not 'outsourced' they become 'temporary' jobs, lacking overtime pay, and benefits. I will consider myself lucky if I find a future job with the wage and benefits my dad job has. A 40-hour work week, no mandatory overtime, anything more than 40-hours time and a half. All this too, the result of unionization.

[Sonicsands]

Walmart has a reputation of not treating their employees well. Starbucks does not. Unions have become more of a political power monger rather than an advocate for workers' rights.

For example, why were unions not front and center in exposing sweatshops?

Unions also have a longer history of strong-handed handling of workers who do not go along as much as employers do.