The Starbucks Union pulled off a minor coup late Wednesday. They got one brave worker a microphone, and let him loose on the CEO.
In a two minute conversation, the worker raised a number of issues:
1. Clopening: Closing one night at 9:00 PM, and opening at 4:00 AM the next morning. That's a 7-hour break in between shifts, meaning that it is not possible for the worker to get a full nights sleep before standing on their feet all day for a second time.
2. Low pay. That a worker who has worked at Starbucks for two years cannot afford their own apartment, but must share housing with two or three other roomates. That workers spend their first ten-minute break video-chatting with their families because they have to work two jobs, and as a result, cannot actually see their families. A little known fact about Starbucks is that 100% of their baristas are part-time workers. This gets Starbucks off the hook as far as benefits are concerned, because while many of their workers qualify for benefits, few of them have the funds to actually take advantage of the benefits they're offered. As a result, Starbucks as a corporation isn't required to pay their share of the benefits that the workers are entitled to, but cannot afford.
3. Poor treatment of workers and intimidation. The worker recounts women being told that they would be fired if they became pregnant and criticized for a drop in productivity while pregnant. The worker begins to comment on a failure of the company to respect the religious needs of its Muslim workers, when he is cut off.
Howard Shultz, Starbucks' CEO, parries all of his questions. He completely ignores the problems with "Clopening." He ignores the intimidation of women on staff, and instead of dealing with any of the issues raised by the worker, decides that the entire issue is about one individual, not general problems with Starbucks as a whole.
The most obscene moment in this entire video is that moment, when the CEO attempts to imply that these are the words of a single, disgruntled worker.
Sam Dukore is not upset because he was spurned for a promotion.
He's upset because they promised to make him a full-time employee, and then didn't. And he's not alone. A great many workers at Starbucks have a problem with how they're being treated, and that's why Union Organizing at Starbucks is ongoing.
Video and Transcript follow.
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