Starbucks workers demand union rights

@BroadwayBK I read this article too, aren't Starbucks employees some of the most well looked after? they get above minimum wage and benefits too ?? I dont know for sure but have read and heard something to that effect..

I didn't even know Starbucks employees had a union.

These Starbucks baristas are acting like they work in a nineteenth century Chicago slaughterhouse. I thought they had it pretty good, but it seems they don't agree.

@NeverSleeps: I don't know. I only go into Starbucks to meet clients, nothing else. When I do go, I usually get apple juice.

@uptowngirl I actually worked at a Starbucks in the city years and years ago, and I thought the expereince was awesome in comparison to the evil restaurant I had worked in shortly before I found myself making lattes. Starbucks offers health care! To baristas! But anyone who is looking for something to complain about will find it, I suppose.

I'm impressed they offer health care - is that only to full time employees?

That's pretty incredible, actually, @BroadwayBK! Way back when I was seventeen and had just gotten out of high school, I applied for a summer job there (and was turned down - being seventeen with no work experiences is rubbish when you're trying to GET work experience). I sure missed out! Although I'm on my mother's policy now, which is nice!

@Uraniumfish I think you have to work about 30 hours a week or something. All of the info is on their website. There has been some interesting stuff about their healthcare program in the news: http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/07/news/companies/starbucks_schultz_healthcare.fortune/index.htm http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/starbucks-workers-protest-rise-in-health-premiums/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zp-heller/starbucks-health-care-pol_b_208382.html The last article sort of goes along with what the above Starbucks employees are complaining about. I never viewed Starbucks as an evil entity, but maybe I didn't work there long enough?

@Uraniumfish My bad, it's 20 hours a week.

@BroadwayBk I read all the three links that you posted and many of the comments too.While its great that Starbucks offers health insurance to those employees who work 20 hours a week/240 hours a quarter the last video illustrates how easy it is to lose this cover.Maybe the Baristas who are calling for unionization have a point there.. USA needs universal medical coverage more than ever now ..but when will Americans wake up and smell the coffee?

@BroadwayBK It looks like some of us had misconceptions about Starbucks' forward-thinking business.... They certainly do an excellent job of making themselves look good, anyway. @uptowngirl Ha, smell the coffee..

I don't think that any service industry job is good. The people that tend to run the businesses are of the mind set that the employees are completely replaceable so everyone is always walking around on eggshells.

@JenMac that kind of insecurity is in all jobs nowadays unless you are in academia or the health sector. Banking is especially brutal once you hit 40 you are considered to be a has been no matter that you maybe extremely efficient and good at your job

@JenMac There are restaurants that value their employees.... And those restaurants are the ones that tend to have reputations for awesome service. But you're right in that many restaurants keep easy-come-easy-go staffing policies. I've certainly worked in quite a few of the latter, and very few of the former. Maybe there is one "good" job in the industry - and that's as a chef, if you truly have the knack for it. It's not for me, though. @uptowngirl What aspect of the banking biz practices such profound ageism?

@Uptowngirl: Even in the health sector, people are overstressed and panicking about whether they will keep their jobs or not.

@BroadwayBK Investment Banking .. and sadly not every banker makes gazillions of dollars and can retire at 50

@hhusted really thought health care workers were quite okay as an aging population always requires them.

@broadwaybk I feel like even being a chef kinda stinks. It's incredibly hard to become an executive chef -- next to impossible for a woman, sadly -- and even if you get as high up as sous chef, the money's not great, the hours are odd, and the executive chef is constantly screaming at you. No thank you.

@Uptowngirl: You kidding. I live in the hospital these days with my cancer surgery and plastic surgery. I constantly hear nurses and doctors complaining about losing their jobs due to insurance cutbacks, insurance not paying them, and other reasons. You should hear the complaints. Every time I go there, a new nurse is working in the area I have to be.

@hhusted Wow thought health care was one sector that was unaffected.

@JenMac what you say is true.. how many female chefs in NYC do we really know f? , April Bloomfield and Anita Lo are just two of the names that come to mind ... as for renowned male chefs.. way too many..

@JenMac Ha, touche. And you're right - you hardly ever come across a female executive chef. I've even known very few female sous chefs. @hhusted @uptowngirl Yeah...you'd think that the financial difficulties hospitals face would be enough to make them jump for joy at any health insurance legislation. Guess not.

Huh, that's weird. I have a couple of friends that are nurses and they do pretty well. They travel to different cities where there's a deficiency and their rent is even paid.

@JenMac; They are traveling nurses. I'm speaking about nurses in hospitals. These are the nurses that are getting hit hard.

@JenMac I was thinking of this issue: http://nymag.com/news/features/68991/ As far as I know, the financial state of hospitals doesn't effect the salaries of medical personnel...

@BroadwayBk fascinating reading, didnt realise NYC's hospitals were such a mess!