Starbucks Union

IWW Starbucks Workers Union
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Fact Sheet for Guests

The truth is Baristas genuinely enjoy providing you with your drink. For most of us it is the highlight of our workday. To make this work sustainable we've formed a union and wanted to tell you why.

We work very hard at a highly profitable company yet we live in grinding poverty

  • The starting wage for a Barista is $7.75/hour - far below a livable amount
  • After six months on the job we get a raise amounting to some cents, one of us received an 11 cent raise while another received 23 cents, just to give two examples
  • We have access to a 401(k) and other financial vehicles but almost never have any money left over after paying rent and other necessities to contribute anything into them
  • No Baristas are allowed full-time status, so we're never guaranteed any amount of hours per week making it exceedingly difficult to budget for rent, utilities, and food
  • Some employees work enough hours per quarter to qualify for purchasing health insurance through Starbucks but once again many of us don't have enough money left over to do so

Our workday is characterized by undue repetitive stress and unsafe conditions

  • We know you detest the long lines at Starbucks, so do we! To save money Management refuses to have enough Baristas on the floor to serve guests without having to work at staggering levels of speed
  • Because employees must prepare beverages, operate the cash registers, and so forth at such high speeds, repetitive stress injuries are endemic at Starbucks
  • As you know, we are working with very hot drinks sometimes as hot as 200 degrees, it is simply irresponsible for Starbucks to force Baristas to do this kind of work at unsafe speeds
  • Starbucks coffee shops are not ergonomically sound resulting in workers needing to bend, reach, and lift in a manner conducive to musculo-skeletal ailments
We are now exercising our right to form a union and would appreciate your support. Baristas are standing strong as the union certification election approaches. The Union urges Starbucks and Chairman Howard Schultz in the strongest possible terms to refrain from intimidating workers or otherwise attempting to obstruct a fair vote

Your support in this struggle would mean so much to us:

  1. Tell the managers at your local store that you support the right of Baristas to organize
  2. Contact Chairman Howard Schultz at hschultz@starbucks.com and Starbucks at 800-235-2883 to express your support for the Union