Last weekend, during an interview with The New York Times, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, said he believes employees at Starbucks' stores are pushing for unionization and better working conditions “primarily because Gen Z has a different view of the world.” These young employees, Schultz suggested, don't realize how good they already have it.
These greedy capitalists are as delusional as TFG. If they think that Reagonomics is still not retarding wages and causing people to work multiple jobs just to exist they haven’t seen, or refuse to see, that this policy is a colossal failure.
We need to remind them that 40+ years of right-wing middle-class damaging policy is based on union busting and ridiculous tax laws and they need to remember we could, with the right circumstances, once again raise the top tax rate to 70%, pass new laws that would require all businesses with 40 or more employees TO BE UNIONIZED!
And the younger generations, at least the ones that care about (real) history, have all this information available about what this (failed policy) has perpetuated online.
Unions and fair tax laws scare them into double-talk and sweating in their Gucci suits, something this baby boomer would witness with great delight.
Judd. Thanks for article on pay disparity. Nothing has made me more incensed. I am curious. In 1964 or 65 LBJ released an excutive order that said companies that had federal contracts had to develop affirmative action plans. No federal agency enforced it until 1973 when the Coal Employment Project challenged 153 coal companies on behalf of women. Mining jobs opened up. Could Biden do the same re gap between CEO pay and lowest paid employees? Please follow this story. Keep pounding away. Imagine the impact that would have? Thanks as always.
Even more reasons to not pay for their crappy overpriced coffee. Oh, those spoiled employees should be grateful because they get Spotify. I’m sure Spotify helps pay the rent.
Such an arrogant POS-CEO admitting he came back to, in effect, break the union effort and deny employees rights given them by American laws. Seems if you are paid millions of dollars you are exempt from abiding by laws.
The people who actually do the work at these companies aren’t paid a living wage, yet the executives can fly store to store to threaten them.
In Clarksville Indiana within two hours after filing for a union vote management threw all the anti-fatigue floor mats in the dumpster. Employees had to work on slippery hard tiles all day long. I guess Spotify will fix that as well.
My youngest is Gen Z. She might not vote because of her view point that American politics does nothing but screw every one especially minorities.
Her read on your dtiry about Crypto and Gillibrand was an eyeroll and :I told you so."
She and her generation want to rock the foundation unlike her millenial siblings.
Starbucks stinks like most corporations as you have brillantly laid out in both sides of the field funding. "Say one thing do another" doesn't sit well with Gen Z.
More power to them. David Hogg is the example I encourage her to emulate.
Maybe. Hopefully. They can make a difference in America
If they can start spelling my name correctly on my cup, I'm all for it. Seriously though - this is news to me, and will watch closely. Unionization usually stagnates customer service, since the focus is on workers rights and not the customer. However, any company can make workers rights part of their culture IN ADDITION TO great service. Such highly compensated leadership should be able to figure this out.
This is unpleasant news on many fronts. I'm a big believer in unions, but I'm also a big believer in truth and fairness in journalism. This piece talks about executive compensation (which almost everyone but the executives themselves agree is hideous) but it neglects to talk about the costs associated with unions. How much to union bosses make, for example? How much to their workers pay in mandatory dues? I confess that I am a die-hard S'bux fan, but I cut w-a-a-a-y back when they changed a particular promotion I was fond of -- thus I am completely capable of cutting back or eliminating Starbucks from my life if they substantially change the experience for me. (For example, the single drive-through window at our local store sometimes has 20 cars in it -- and once you're in it, there is no leaving until you get to the front of the line. So, all but the adel-brained park and go inside to pick up their orders. There, we find long lines even though there may be 12 baristas behind the counter. One waits (and waits and...etc.) but if the "experience" takes any more time out of my day I will obviously need to re-evaluate. Will unionization help or hinder? It sounds like we'll find out -- just as S'bux will find out then just how much I'll put up with.
I’m a union member (a 10%er!) and the president of my local. Just like government, if the union members don’t keep their leaders accountable, then the union falls into apathy. We owe it to ourselves to make everyday middle class people a priority again, along with everyone else.
Thank you, Judd. I am heartened that unions are making a comeback after forty years of being demonized (I once was excused from jury duty because I said I was a union member; it's as if I had confessed to being a felon.) Unions are a mixed bag, as many commenters have pointed out - organizers can become aggressive and try to unionize where none are truly needed. For small businesses where owners work alongside employees, my thinking is that both sides should be able to work out their differences without mediation. But for these large companies - like Starbucks and Amazon - management is so far removed from the day-to-day reality of workers' lives that unions become a necessary means of balancing power. If Schultz were not in fact a real person, a satirist would have made him up. He's the epitome of a patronizing, blind, self-justifying fool.
Schultz didn’t explain his union opposition, instead deflecting to blame a generation of alleged ill-informed people. When someone deflects, they don’t have an answer or at least not one they want to provide.
I have mixed opinions about unions. I’m from blue-collar Michigan originally, and it’s no secret the UAW had a lot of power that was used for extreme good but that also bred extreme corruption. In the early 1970s, the UAW, in my opinion, saved the Detroit automakers by negotiating slower lines that were the pivot point in making safe and reliable cars. They also negotiated more money and historic benefits. Because of this, unions of all ilk swept the state, and in their sights were businesses that sold any product made in a factory or plant.
In our town of 3800, my parents owned two small businesses, a restaurant and grocery store. Both were family-run, but my parents had a few hourly employees to round out the staff, mostly at the grocery. I’d say ~10. One of the unions approached the grocery store employees saying if they joined, they would be able to increase wages and benefits exponentially. The employees approached my parents, said they wouldn’t join if my parents would provide union benefits without the union and my parents couldn’t do it. Literally. The entire situation became very ugly, and not long after we closed the grocery store. The restaurant closed three years later.
I have no doubt there are countless stories on all aspects of unionization. My point in sharing this is because Howard Schultz has a-hole opinions and he’s completely wrong as he tries to exercise those opinions against workers, but being pro-union, just like anything else, means the devil is in the details of how you carry it out.
I agree with the gross inequities in pay however I wish the research could address that global corporations like Starbucks didn’t exist in the 50’s/60’s. It doesn’t seem like an accurate comparison.
I had a minor issue with Amazon today (they shipped some phantom product that I'd not ordered and didn't show up anywhere on my account). At the end of the chat session, the CS person asked if there's anything else. I replied, vote union every time!
These greedy capitalists are as delusional as TFG. If they think that Reagonomics is still not retarding wages and causing people to work multiple jobs just to exist they haven’t seen, or refuse to see, that this policy is a colossal failure.
We need to remind them that 40+ years of right-wing middle-class damaging policy is based on union busting and ridiculous tax laws and they need to remember we could, with the right circumstances, once again raise the top tax rate to 70%, pass new laws that would require all businesses with 40 or more employees TO BE UNIONIZED!
And the younger generations, at least the ones that care about (real) history, have all this information available about what this (failed policy) has perpetuated online.
Unions and fair tax laws scare them into double-talk and sweating in their Gucci suits, something this baby boomer would witness with great delight.
Judd. Thanks for article on pay disparity. Nothing has made me more incensed. I am curious. In 1964 or 65 LBJ released an excutive order that said companies that had federal contracts had to develop affirmative action plans. No federal agency enforced it until 1973 when the Coal Employment Project challenged 153 coal companies on behalf of women. Mining jobs opened up. Could Biden do the same re gap between CEO pay and lowest paid employees? Please follow this story. Keep pounding away. Imagine the impact that would have? Thanks as always.
Well said Judd. Good research. A low differential economy benefits everyone.
Even more reasons to not pay for their crappy overpriced coffee. Oh, those spoiled employees should be grateful because they get Spotify. I’m sure Spotify helps pay the rent.
Such an arrogant POS-CEO admitting he came back to, in effect, break the union effort and deny employees rights given them by American laws. Seems if you are paid millions of dollars you are exempt from abiding by laws.
The people who actually do the work at these companies aren’t paid a living wage, yet the executives can fly store to store to threaten them.
In Clarksville Indiana within two hours after filing for a union vote management threw all the anti-fatigue floor mats in the dumpster. Employees had to work on slippery hard tiles all day long. I guess Spotify will fix that as well.
To think this guy considered running for president at one point. What a clown.
My youngest is Gen Z. She might not vote because of her view point that American politics does nothing but screw every one especially minorities.
Her read on your dtiry about Crypto and Gillibrand was an eyeroll and :I told you so."
She and her generation want to rock the foundation unlike her millenial siblings.
Starbucks stinks like most corporations as you have brillantly laid out in both sides of the field funding. "Say one thing do another" doesn't sit well with Gen Z.
More power to them. David Hogg is the example I encourage her to emulate.
Maybe. Hopefully. They can make a difference in America
If they can start spelling my name correctly on my cup, I'm all for it. Seriously though - this is news to me, and will watch closely. Unionization usually stagnates customer service, since the focus is on workers rights and not the customer. However, any company can make workers rights part of their culture IN ADDITION TO great service. Such highly compensated leadership should be able to figure this out.
This is unpleasant news on many fronts. I'm a big believer in unions, but I'm also a big believer in truth and fairness in journalism. This piece talks about executive compensation (which almost everyone but the executives themselves agree is hideous) but it neglects to talk about the costs associated with unions. How much to union bosses make, for example? How much to their workers pay in mandatory dues? I confess that I am a die-hard S'bux fan, but I cut w-a-a-a-y back when they changed a particular promotion I was fond of -- thus I am completely capable of cutting back or eliminating Starbucks from my life if they substantially change the experience for me. (For example, the single drive-through window at our local store sometimes has 20 cars in it -- and once you're in it, there is no leaving until you get to the front of the line. So, all but the adel-brained park and go inside to pick up their orders. There, we find long lines even though there may be 12 baristas behind the counter. One waits (and waits and...etc.) but if the "experience" takes any more time out of my day I will obviously need to re-evaluate. Will unionization help or hinder? It sounds like we'll find out -- just as S'bux will find out then just how much I'll put up with.
I’m a union member (a 10%er!) and the president of my local. Just like government, if the union members don’t keep their leaders accountable, then the union falls into apathy. We owe it to ourselves to make everyday middle class people a priority again, along with everyone else.
Thank you, Judd. I am heartened that unions are making a comeback after forty years of being demonized (I once was excused from jury duty because I said I was a union member; it's as if I had confessed to being a felon.) Unions are a mixed bag, as many commenters have pointed out - organizers can become aggressive and try to unionize where none are truly needed. For small businesses where owners work alongside employees, my thinking is that both sides should be able to work out their differences without mediation. But for these large companies - like Starbucks and Amazon - management is so far removed from the day-to-day reality of workers' lives that unions become a necessary means of balancing power. If Schultz were not in fact a real person, a satirist would have made him up. He's the epitome of a patronizing, blind, self-justifying fool.
Schultz didn’t explain his union opposition, instead deflecting to blame a generation of alleged ill-informed people. When someone deflects, they don’t have an answer or at least not one they want to provide.
I have mixed opinions about unions. I’m from blue-collar Michigan originally, and it’s no secret the UAW had a lot of power that was used for extreme good but that also bred extreme corruption. In the early 1970s, the UAW, in my opinion, saved the Detroit automakers by negotiating slower lines that were the pivot point in making safe and reliable cars. They also negotiated more money and historic benefits. Because of this, unions of all ilk swept the state, and in their sights were businesses that sold any product made in a factory or plant.
In our town of 3800, my parents owned two small businesses, a restaurant and grocery store. Both were family-run, but my parents had a few hourly employees to round out the staff, mostly at the grocery. I’d say ~10. One of the unions approached the grocery store employees saying if they joined, they would be able to increase wages and benefits exponentially. The employees approached my parents, said they wouldn’t join if my parents would provide union benefits without the union and my parents couldn’t do it. Literally. The entire situation became very ugly, and not long after we closed the grocery store. The restaurant closed three years later.
I have no doubt there are countless stories on all aspects of unionization. My point in sharing this is because Howard Schultz has a-hole opinions and he’s completely wrong as he tries to exercise those opinions against workers, but being pro-union, just like anything else, means the devil is in the details of how you carry it out.
Cue in Hall and Oates, "You're Out of Touch"!
Starbucks sucks anyways. Overpriced awful coffee and their 'food' is barely edible. I hope they unionize everywhere
I agree with the gross inequities in pay however I wish the research could address that global corporations like Starbucks didn’t exist in the 50’s/60’s. It doesn’t seem like an accurate comparison.
I had a minor issue with Amazon today (they shipped some phantom product that I'd not ordered and didn't show up anywhere on my account). At the end of the chat session, the CS person asked if there's anything else. I replied, vote union every time!