Starbucks Union

As much as I am pro-union at Starbucks, and as much as I detest Starbucks cutting hours and such, I don't feel that baristas should expect to get a tip from every customer.

Tips are nice, though. We can get an extra $1.30 to $2 per hour (sometimes more, depending on the store).

Personally, I would like to forgo the tip jar in order to get enough hours to get health benefits. But that's just me.

Im all for tip jars where ever workers are taken advantage of but in the end we should be paid enough so we dont have to rely on those tips. Our labor makes millions for these people the least they could do is pay us enough to pay the bills without having to worry if tips are going to be good next week or not.

Oh my GOD!!!!
Is there anything other than the vacuous complaints of priviliged, first world lazy suburban/urbanites on this website! At least Reverend Billy is funny to watch/hear. Look! I hate George Bush, Republicans and multi-nationals as much as the next left-wing-ding. Come on! I beg all of you , PLEASE, PLEASE stop acting like whiny children who arent getting enough candy.
Every year, more than 10 million children die totally preventable deaths. You and I know what it takes to improve child health and survival but millions still die because they lack access to these basic services. People like Sarbucksslave22 should go F**k him/herself and stop whining about MIDDLE-CLASS ENTITLEMENTS! while only 1/20th of his/her precious tips could save a child from certain death.

Um, if your job doesn't pay enough to cover your bills, either quit and get a new job or spend less.

You have no business demanding higher wages than you were promised when you were hired for your job.

My response to you NYCpartner is simply how can we help starving childern in the third world if we cannot help ourselves? You would just see this country turn in the third world slowly but surely while going to work at Starbucks every morning, giving 20 cents to Sally Struthers and 50 dollars to the Hillary Clinton campaign and be totally fine with yourself. I'll pray for you and children you are saving with your tips.

drance201.... Please stop telling people to quit and for heavens sake please don't give financial advice. I would never tell you to quit and I wish you the absolute best in all of your endeavors especially since you might be my boss one day. You'll definetly be somebodies boss one day.

I'm just a lowly shift supervisor. I've been with the company two years now, going strong. I'm in general very happy with my job at Starbucks. I basically look and act just like any other Starbot that ever existed. The only thing that sets me apart from my coworkers is I know my rights and I choose to use them when necessary. Well guess what drance?? Its time and its necessary. I do not need to tell you that though. You just need to look around your store, really get to know your co-workers, you'll see whats up.

You can do two productive things at this point drance201:

1) Stop telling people where and where not to work and what they have business doing.

2) Educate yourself as to what your rights are and the benefits of working union.

3) Contact a union organizer and get a campaign started at your store.

Thanks for your time.

I'm an ASM. I seem to be confused what do tips have to do with cutting hours????? I have never heard of such thing. We have never cut hours because of tips.

port74..

If you would actually read the statements before making a reply you would realize that no one ever claimed Starbucks was cutting hours because of tips.

Starbucksslave22 was merely pointing out that the amount of tip money we receive directly correlates with the amount of hours we work and if our hours fluxuate greatly from week to week then that makes tips, while very important, an unreliable source of income.

I'm not sure of the relevance in the statements made here at all.

Tips are directly related to hours, as they should be. Tips are money. In essence, hours are money. How they are allocated has nothing to do with the situation at hand.

If you would like more hours, explain to your management team that you would like more hours. If they say no, look into another job or unionizing your store. You don't have much of any other options.

Hours are money and tips are money and tips are hours and money. Yeah that about covers it.

Tips fluxuate however, pay rates don't. I can't plan my budget very well when I don't know how much will be in my little tip baggie or how many hours I will be getting which will determine the size of the baggie and my paycheck.

Asking for hours I'm finding a lot of the time is like asking for the head of my managers first born child. And besides if I get more hours then someone else loses hours and we are still understaffed. Imagine that. Not to mention they hold the availability thing over your head and tell you that they need you to be abvailable more often if you want more hours.

Its a game where you have to give give give to get just a little and then once they throw you that bone you go chasing after more. I don't play and neither should anyone else who has even the slightest bit of self-respect.