So, to borrow a Starbuxism, what are IWW and Starbucks Workers Union's S.M.A.R.T. goals with regard to improving working conditions for members? Now that there are three union stores, and presumably more on the way, what are the specific goals and how are they going to be measured? $15/hr? One full-time partner for every part-time partner hired? 90% paid health insurance premiums? What basis is there for setting said goals? Are they built using data from other industries, or just the service industry or just Union data in the area? Are the demands achievable or realistic (and sustainable) given current market conditions, the company bottom line, etc.? What is the timeframe for these changes to take place?
I've always valued logic and reason and facts above heated arguments and passionate beliefs, so, regardless of your stance, I'd like the replies to have some substance rather than some of the unenlightened and dowright nasty comments I've seen throughout these forums. For instance, I can become a union member for $6/month now, but what, if any benefits come with that, and how does that typically project down the road? (will I be paying $100/mo union dues 5 or 10 years from now?) If a partner works at a union store, can they ever get promoted to management or be transferred elsewhere in the company? What's the current or proposed union pay structure for Starbucks partners?
Incidentally, I'm also looking for other partners in the Chicago area to discuss issues and the potential for organizing - see my post in the Regions section of the forum.
Thanks
-J
Great questions J. While the
Great questions J. While the Starbucks Workers Union is adding members every day, it probably wouldn't be appropriate to set specific demands for everyone. However, we do have two very concrete immediate demands because they are so urgent and fundamental:
1. 30 guaranteed hours of work per week for those who want it.
This demand is simply a requirement for financial survival and qualification for health care.
2. A respect for workers right to organize free of intimidation and propaganda.
This demand ensures that folks can make up their own mind based on facts and not fear.
Workers in individual stores, communities, and regions decide on their own what they demand and fight for. Hopefully, we can all come to agree around the country eventually over a common set of specific demands like a living wage proportionate to cost of living in different cities.
An interesting statistic from the Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics is that for service employees like us, union workers have average hourly earnings of $16.22, compared with $8.98 for nonunion workers.
The primary benefit of joining the union is actually being able to improve wages and working conditions through collective action. What shape those improvements take depend on what we want and what we're prepared to fight for.
The amount we pay in dues is set by us, the workers in the Union, and no one else. I don't think we're going to vote for $100 dues :).
Union workers could be promoted to management but as a matter of law and policy they'd have to give up their union membership. Transfers would not be affected.
I hope this helps. Looking forward to hopefully work with you in Chicago!
I'm imagining a world with no
I'm imagining a world with no hypothetical situations right now as I type this ;-)
That's great info, SWU, and thanks for the quick response, and I hope there is more good info out there to at least attach some facts and figures to the debate here. I, for one, would like to see some numbers kicked around because, although not the sole concern, economic issues like take home pay and benefits are pretty central to the dialogue here.
So, just playing devil's advocate for a minute: if the average store partner was making closer to $16.22/hr instead of $8.98/hr (baristas in Chicago start around $7.50), wouldn't that significantly hit SBUX's bottom line? Wouldn't customers soon be kvetching about a cup of drip finally passing the $2 mark? I'm just guessing, but that might squelch a bit of SBUX's otherwise unimpeded growth, wouldn't it? Since those of us working more than 20hrs/week are also eligible for S.I.P. and Bean Stock (I participate in both programs, just for disclosure purposes) doesn't that indirectly come back to bite us one way or another?
Similarly, how does unionizing affect insurance premiums? Do they get dropped by the employer entirely and picked up by the union, or does the employer just scale back the percentage it contributes? Do sign-ups jump with unionization and therefore impact rates or does it stay pretty equivalent? The SBUX rates right now are pretty impressive from what I've seen with other employers and that seems to be a key factor in attracting and keeping quality partners, at least the ones I've been working with so far.
I also worry about trading one "tyranny" for another with respect to unionizing. I have teachers and teamsters in the family, none of which have much praise to heap on their "elected leadership" (I use the term loosely) and from the outside looking in, it seems like they (the unions) are perpetually under investigation for this that or the other corruption or misappropriation of funds and always threatening to beat people over the head with the STRIKE stick.
Additionally, SBUX does alot for the communities locally as well as for the growers, and is a leading force in bringing both fairly traded and ecologically responsible coffees to the marketplace. These programs don't come without some impact on the bottom line and I'd hate to see any cutbacks in social responsibility programs and charitable contributions come about for the sake of a few more cents per hour. A couple cents per hour doesn't make much of a difference to the average SBUX partner, but a couple cents per pound can make a tremendous difference to the growers of a coffee co-op in a country like Guatemala or Kenya.
-J