The union said that the coffee chain had not settled hundreds of unfair labor practice cases or brought a comprehensive pay package to the table.
    • Punkie@lemmy.world
      103·
      22 hours ago

      So many people on the Internet say “Ugh, Starbucks is shit,” like they are proud about it. Truth is, a LOT of people drink at Starbucks. The one near my house had a drive through line so long, they redid part of the shopping center parking lot to accommodate it. It’s been renovated twice in ten years. Starbucks sells more than just “coffee that is shit,” they sell a service that few can compensate without having to set up something in your own house. Frankl;y, half of the stuff out of there is caffeinated milkshakes of varying consistency. Starbucks is a service that sells coffee, and that convenience is what draw so many people.

      The average person doesn’t care about unions, good coffee, or any of that. They want to get a nummy candy treat packed with caffeine to drive to work. That’s it. It’s really just that simple. And until it gives people instant massive diarrhea or some other personally-affecting scandal, they will just keep doing it out of habit. habit is a strong motivator, especially when you’re fucking tired and just want to get to work that you hate anyway.

      • bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
        7·
        19 hours ago

        The average person doesn’t care about unions, good coffee, or any of that. They want to get a nummy candy treat packed with caffeine to drive to work. That’s it.

        That’s a bingo.

        Starbucks has managed to capture exactly what the masses desire: caffeinated sugary drinks that are consistent and conveniently available at a price that they’ll pay. Half of which, they aren’t necessarily paying for the product, but more the service coupled with a fashionable brand. It’s fashionable to religiously go to Starbucks every morning (nevermind caffeine addiction, which is a whole other deal in itself). Also, for what it’s worth, they are reasonably quick compared to a local coffee house that is more designed for relaxing in-house. They’re the fast food of coffee, designed for mass production (see the drive-thru; all of their stores with a drive-thru are optimized for them). They are by no means a premium coffee supplier, but that’s not their target market; their market is convenience-oriented mass production.

      • ynazuma@lemmy.world
        52·
        21 hours ago

        Still shi*

        Also, unless you live somewhere really weird, there is always another option to Starbucks

        Going to Starbucks says two things about you, I have no taste, I am too lazy to seek something better

        So yeah, seeing how many people actually drink that slop, makes those of us that don’t drink that slop proud of ourselves for not being tools

  • talEnglish
    7·
    22 hours ago

    major

    IIRC from earlier skimming when I saw news about this, about 500 Starbucks in the US are unionized, out of about 16,000 locations, so about 97% of their locations are not unionized.

    kagis

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starbucks_unions

    As of October 2024, over 11,000 workers at 500 Starbucks stores in at least 40 states in the United States have voted to unionize, primarily with Workers United.

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/218360/number-of-starbucks-stores-in-the-us/

    Globally famous coffeehouse chain, Starbucks, accounted for 10,158 company-operated and 6,777 licensed stores in the United States in 2024. The number of Starbucks stores has steadily increased over the past decade.

    So the strike might be major for a given location, but my expectation is that it’d be fairly limited from the standpoint of corporate headquarters. From the article, which has quotes from the Starbucks organization as a whole, it sounds to me like they’re negotiating with the organization as a whole, not individual locations.