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MapsSlaps | 3 years ago

Their demands:

1) The right to unionize without intimidation

2) Commitment to non-discrimination based on legal classes

3) Discipline happens on the clock and is free from harassment and abuse

4) Right to self-defense, covid safety, disaster/emergency pay raises, and zero tolerance for harassment

5) All firings should have a Just Cause

6) Allow workers to pick up shifts in non-union stores, transfer to them, etc.

7) Reimbursement for necessary equipment, limits on dress code

8) Full time for 32+ hours, benefits for 20 hours

9) New work cannot be added to job descriptions without negotiation

10) Schedule guarantees

11) Seniority will be used to prevent unfair working conditions

12) Workers in a store will have a committee to oversee working conditions in their store

13) No reduction in wages or benefits without negotiation

14) Unions have a place set up in the break room for union comms

15) The right to wear union pins/swag

Absolutely zero of these are "petulant", and we can argue about whether any of them are "counterproductive", but they all seem absolutely baseline reasonable to me.

discuss

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next_xibalba|3 years ago

This summary is disingenuous. Take for example:

"7) Reimbursement for necessary equipment, limits on dress code"

Whereas the actual text reads:

"We propose that workers will not be held to a dress code, except for where local, state and federal health/safety standards are enforced. We propose that Starbucks will provide or reimburse each worker 2 pairs of non-slip shoes each year, as well as fresh aprons for partners every shift. We also propose Starbucks provide visors for workers who cannot comfortably use Starbucks-provided hats."

So they're not proposing limits on dress codes. They want to do away with the dress code entirely. This is absolutely petulant. Maybe some employees will show up in tuxedos, but my money would be on more and more employees showing up in less and less professional attire. Adding distraction, eroding the customer experience, and reducing the professionalism.

On another note, seniority is a toxic, irrational policy. If you want to see how corrosive it is, go talk to any honest member of a teacher's union. Seniority allows low performers with bad attitudes to hang around indefinitely with little consequence.

ticviking|3 years ago

This is pretty basic negotiation though, ask for more than you think you can get to have something you can give up in the discussion.

I expect the compromise to be something like, "there's a dress code but I'm not forced to buy anything other than basic black T-Shirts that the company wants me to wear, and the company buys me 1 pair of shoes a year."

MapsSlaps|3 years ago

> Adding distraction, eroding the customer experience, and reducing the professionalism.

The professionalism of ... Starbucks coffee shops? Are you for real? It's not a bank. Let people wear what they want and what makes them happy. You can still require people cover sufficiently for sanitary and safety reasons.

> On another note, seniority is a toxic, irrational policy

Yes. Agreed. But also, Starbucks has been hiring people specifically to "outcompete" pro union voices. A rush of new hires can destabilize organization efforts. Seniority for the purposes of protecting workers is reasonable. Seniority as the only criteria is not. It's a careful balance.

hguant|3 years ago

...this is an incredibly disingenuous reading of the stated proposal.

#4 alone isn't "covid safety", it includes a reinstatement of COVID benefits and pay. "Protecting pay for store closures...and for workers who leave early or are sick" also doesn't really make sense in an _hourly_ work environment.

dragonwriter|3 years ago

> “Protecting pay for store closures…and for workers who leave early or are sick” also doesn’t really make sense in an _hourly_ work environment.

Yes, it does. Hourly environments can (and some do) have paid leave for special circumstances based on, e.g., scheduled time during which the special circumstances prevent work. I’ve seen this in both private unionized environments and public sector (union or not) ones.

Some of this (e.g., paid sick leave) may be balance-driven, whereas paid leave for closures, and external events which force early unplanned shift termination often would not be, since these conditions would be decided by management, but the decision would trigger paid leave for individuals impacted.

JKCalhoun|3 years ago

Are you okay with the other 14 then? I understand how you can find issue with one of their proposals but then Starbucks ought to handily agree with all but the one and offer to negotiate #4.

runarberg|3 years ago

"Protecting pay for store closures...and for workers who leave early or are sick" is national laws in many jurisdictions. You’ll have to provide some reason for why it doesn’t make sense, many national assemblies and labor boards seem to think otherwise.

lenkite|3 years ago

> "Protecting pay for store closures...and for workers who leave early or are sick" also doesn't really make sense in an _hourly_ work environment.

VERY, VERY hard disagree.