Starbucks Union

IWW Starbucks Workers Union
Register
Login
Home » Forums » Public Forums » Joining the Union
» It's Time We Organize To Fight Poverty

It's time we organize to fight poverty

Submitted by Organize on Tue, 08/30/2005 - 2:19pm.

Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/12/22/news/economy/poverty_overview/index.htm

1.1 million more Americans in poverty

37 million Americans total living in poverty in 2004, according to the Census Bureau.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/30/news/economy/poverty_rate.reut/index.htm

CEO pay: Sky high gets even higher

A new report shows top-dog pay bites shareholders, and alleges war profiteering among some CEOs.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/26/news/economy/ceo_pay/index.htm

Bookmark/Search this post with:
delicious | digg | reddit | magnoliacom | newsvine | furl | google | yahoo | technorati

login or register to post comments | previous forum topic | next forum topic

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Says:
Wed, 08/31/2005 - 2:37am

Sure, CEOs make way more money than most of us, the Starbucks CEO being one of the top 5 highest paid employees in the Northwest, but this is a part of our stratified western lifestyle. I'm not ready to throw it all in the trash.

We don't need to fight to even salaries, but, and I am completely with you on this, we do need to fight to reduce apathy to the plight of millions.

I'm sure there's some reason CEOs make many millions more than I do.

login or register to post comments

Organize Says:
Wed, 08/31/2005 - 9:26am

young_barista wrote:
Sure, CEOs make way more money than most of us, the Starbucks CEO being one of the top 5 highest paid employees in the Northwest, but this is a part of our stratified western lifestyle. I'm not ready to throw it all in the trash.

We don't need to fight to even salaries, but, and I am completely with you on this, we do need to fight to reduce apathy to the plight of millions.

I'm sure there's some reason CEOs make many millions more than I do.

What makes you so sure there is a ethically justifiable reason?

And more importantly what justification is there for the divide between CEO pay and the average worker to increase from 40 times what the average worker makes to close to 500 times what the average worker makes.

It’s no coincidence that this increase in the difference between rich and poor is correlated with rising poverty rates.

login or register to post comments

DontFormAUnion Says:
Wed, 08/31/2005 - 11:47pm

I can think of some ethically justifiable reasons.

1. I mess up my job, the worst that can happen is some drinks may not be made correctly, or something in the store wont be stocked for the next shift. The CEO messes up, it can affect the entire company. Like, the possibility of some hardcore messing up. So this is probably a good reason why they make many many millions and I make $8/hr.

2. Had they not done something right, and made Starbucks what it was today, it would either still be a little shop chilling at Pike's Place, or possibly not even exsist anymore. I know if I helped make something as powerful and successful as Starbucks, I'd want millions a year as well.

login or register to post comments

Organize Says:
Thu, 09/01/2005 - 9:04am

DontFormAUnion wrote:
I can think of some ethically justifiable reasons.

1. I mess up my job, the worst that can happen is some drinks may not be made correctly, or something in the store wont be stocked for the next shift. The CEO messes up, it can affect the entire company. Like, the possibility of some hardcore messing up. So this is probably a good reason why they make many many millions and I make $8/hr.

This ignores the fact that CEO’s make their millions even when they are forced to resign for major screw-up.

In fact it’s not uncommon that the company has to give them more millions as an incentive to leave with out a lawsuit.

What’s your justification for that?

DontFormAUnion wrote:
2. Had they not done something right, and made Starbucks what it was today, it would either still be a little shop chilling at Pike's Place, or possibly not even exsist anymore. I know if I helped make something as powerful and successful as Starbucks, I'd want millions a year as well.

Further more my question was not, is it ethically justifiable for a CEO to make more than you. The question was how is it ethically justifiable that the amount they make more than you went from 40 times more to 500 times more?

Would you find it justifiable if CEO’s made a 1000 time the average workers salary?

How about 10,000 times?

When is a CEO’s salary to big compared with the salary of everyone else?

login or register to post comments

DontFormAUnion Says:
Sat, 09/03/2005 - 4:04pm

I don't care how much a CEO makes. They do more with their job in a day than I probably will all my days at Starbucks. So do I care that they make what they do? No, and I never will.

login or register to post comments

GET Says:
Sun, 06/28/2009 - 12:37am

Tiffany Rings is very nice, I think so

login or register to post comments

sunrise Says:
Wed, 09/02/2009 - 1:37pm

Nice article, very helpful. thanks!!


------------


nike air

login or register to post comments

deewang Says:
Wed, 09/16/2009 - 3:46am

- Thanks for a resourceful content. this is what i have been looking for so long. I don't get the idea why they start these kind of trial when the criminal are old. Perhaps this more personal form of accountability will deter future actors where the fear of international condemnation has not. Ed Hardy stores are located in many locations internationally including the Americas, Europe and Asia.

------------------------------------
Ed Hardy | Ed Hardy clothing | Ed Hardy Shirt

login or register to post comments

LouisVuitton Says:
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 12:14am

Always leading the avant-garde of fashion
without compromising traditional craftsmanship of luxury leather goods
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton

login or register to post comments

connor1984 Says:
Tue, 10/20/2009 - 10:24pm

Poverty and hunger are problems that many Americans relegate to the Third World. But the steady growth of poverty has left millions of American families afraid they won't have enough money to put food on the table.
silver earrings|buy earrings

login or register to post comments