Starbucks Union

The fact that it's offered is more than a majority of companies can say for themselves. A lot of my family works fulltime and does not recieve benefits from their fulltime jobs; consider yourself privelidged.

Also, if your store doesn't need you for 20 hours a week, you should consider another job. Understaffed or overstaffed, every store I've been at has been able to make accomodations for partner hours. Sure it's a mad dash sometimes, but we've all made it through.

I'm not saying starbucks should fall into a trend of norms and just ignore the issues at hand, but consider the fact that you have the loops to jump through in sight a privelidge. My brother works at a movie theater making 6.75 an hour and they shaft him in more ways than your latte-serving self can imagine.

To ensure your store is making money, all you really have to do is sell 3 frappuccinos per partner, an hour... My current store uses a 4 person deployment for the slowest times of the day. Starbucks is so overpriced that it's pretty much impossible not to make money. That should set pretty low on the concerns list for any part of management.

I would pay more attention to your argument if your counterpoints weren't implying that it is too impractical for you to TRY on your own to achieve the desired hours. Yes, you have to pick up other people's shifts if your store is extremely overstaffed. Yes, you have to go to other stores. It's not that hard to get used to another store... and at the very worst you can ask the shift on duty to assign you to a till all day, or even expiditer. The simplistic layout of every store isn't hard to figure out. Everything should be done in the same way at every store, and if it's not, it's only a minor difference.

I just don't understand why people can not help themselves these days. Partners have to AVERAGE 20 hours a week. If you did work 40 one week and 17 the next. That is still averaging 20 hours a week. When I worked as a barista and a shift supervisor I always had a second part time job. I helped myself. I made sure to pick up hours if I didn't have enough. I don't understand where the problem is.

port74..

As an assistant manager I really don't see why you bother coming on this website which is clearly not for managers. Are you worried your store might be going union? If that is the case my suggestion to you is to do not try to bribe, harass, intimidate, spy on, or misinform the pro-union workers (leave them alone!!!)!!! What they are doing does not affect you.

For all you managers out there, if your workers are organizing a union, neutrality is the best policy. Don't become a union buster because that shameful title will follow you where ever you go.

I have been w/the company for over 3 yrs., in 4 different stores and I have NEVER encountered a partner who didn't average the 20 hrs. a week if they WANTED to. Sometimes it means picking up shifts, or opening your availability.

Partners with open availability who average less than 16 hrs. a week are scheduled like this for one reason: THEY SUCK! Managers love partners with open availability because these partners can do those openings & closings. If you have open av. & are getting the lowest hrs. in your store, it's time to take a look at your own job performance.

Go work somewhere else.

...unless you want to keep your job. In that case, tell every pro-union employee to work at a union grocery store.

You're right about that Mo. If a manager was neutral during an organizing drive within their store they would probably lose their job. If the said manager was not willing to violate human rights and the law Starbucks would fire them.

So I guess I should re-phrase my statement.

For all you managers out there, if there is an organizing drive going on in your store start checking your local employment guide. That is, if you want to maintain your dignity and your soul.

Well, that's all relative.

I was trying to back out of this thread... but since when have Dignity and Soul been relative?

Well, at my store where I worked, in Santa Barbara, Calfornia, all the baristas and shift supervisors were scheduled uneven number of hours. Anything over 25 hours per week was almost unheard of. One employee, who had been working for Starbucks for 7 years, was "guaranteed" 24 hours per week and receiving health benefits. Apparently ONE of the shift supervisors worked the minimum number of hours required for benefits during ONE particular quarter. So she enrolled in the health plan with her boyfriend (domestic partner). However, the health plan was costly, and she ended up with a $30 paycheck because she was averaging 23 hours per week. Of course, the next quarter, she was a few hours short of qualifying for benefits, so she (and her boyfriend) lost her benefits.

At my store, all the partners (including the great workers) were getting their hours cut. I don't know if the plan was to restrict them from the health plan, but it sure seemed so. Also, the management was constantly pressuring the store manager to run tight shifts and send people home early.