Starbucks Strike!

Chris delves into the recent Starbucks barista strike, covering worker demands for higher wages, benefits, and improved scheduling. With calls for $25/hour wages, 13 sick days, full-time benefits at 20 hours, and paid holidays, Markowski critiques the feasibility of these requests, questioning their impact on business sustainability. He shares his perspective on how Starbucks might adapt and reflects on his own service industry experience. www.watchdogonwallstreet.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh, we got ourselves a barista strikes. Starbucks strike here, Okay,
Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle. Here. The union representing Starbucks
workers said that baristas in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle walked

(00:36):
off the job and the strikes are going to spread
two hundreds of stores by Christmas Eve unless the company
gets its improved wage offer. Again, the union, which represents
Barisa's at more than five hundred company owned stores, about
five percent of the total US, set a call to

(00:57):
strike after a bargaining session failed to produce better wage gains. Again,
I'm looking at some of the demands here, some of
the demands again. I'm gonna kind of make this perfectly clear.

(01:22):
You're a barista, right, just fine. Again, I worked in
the service industry for a very long time. I wasn't again,
I was kind of like a quasi barista. The Italian
restaurant that I worked at in Manhattan, Yeah, I was
responsible as bartender. I had to make cappuccinos, espressos, all

(01:46):
that stuff behind the bar for the entire restaurant and
my customers at the bar. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
no that I didn't know. There's no such thing as
a frappuccino. No self respecting Italian would ever actually drink one.
But anyway, neither here nor there, you're barrista work behind
the bar. I haven't. I'm not a big fan of

(02:09):
Starbucks coffee. Don't like it. If I have to have it,
I need a couple of coffee at an airport, Yeah
I'll have it. And again you go up and your order,
and you know, they ask you to tip before you've
actually even been served, you know, because you got to
pay first. Let's just say sorry, I'm no longer tipping

(02:32):
barristas here. But let's go through some of the demands
that they have here. Well, you know what we do first,
we'll do we'll do pay, Okay, we'll do pay. This
is what they're asking base wage for all workers of
at least twenty dollars an hour in some higher than
these cities because it's a higher cost of living. They

(02:54):
wanted to be twenty five dollars and forty cents an
our annual rate is they want of five percent plus
cost of living adjustments, seniority raises based upon longevity past
job experience factored into the base wage retirement retirement. All

(03:21):
employees must have a four to one K plan and
contributions must be made by Starbucks into the four to
one K plan. Schedules lack of sufficient hours and inconsistent
schedules leads to economic instability and hardship, whether due to childcare, schooling,

(03:43):
or holding another job. This proposal demands a scheduling and
hours policy establishes a fair process to obtain consistent schedules
over time, vacation and more without favoritism. Guarantees full time status.
You're a full time worker mean you're going to get
benefits for people that work an average of thirty two

(04:05):
hours a week or more, and full benefits as well
for anybody working less than twenty hours a week. Assistant
to guarantee one hours each week, including a four hour minimum,
with significant changes to the schedule discussed with the Joint
Labor Management Committee. Guidelines for a fifteen minute paid break

(04:29):
choice of thirty to sixteen minute unpaid break overtime, pay,
shift premiums, training, and all sorts of other stuff. Vacation
time guaranteed faster accrual of vacation based on total years
of service. Sick time. All employees earn up to thirteen

(04:51):
paid sick days a year. Accrued but unused sick time
will be rolled over to the following year. Thirteen paid
six day Okay, right, we're doing a right number. Five days.
It's almost three weeks right now. All employees will be

(05:12):
paid for ten holidays, regardless of whether they work on
that holiday. Employees that actually do work on the holiday
will be paid time and a half their base rate. Again.

(05:33):
Family healthcare healthcare plans offered by the company. Again they say,
we all deserve high quality healthcare without a coming out
of our paychecks. Affordable and one hundred percent employer paid
care copays capped at a ten dollars maximum, which is

(05:55):
probably the most expensive plan that you can get. Good
luck with that. Good luck with that. If I was Starbucks,
I would say, okay, fine, we're shutting store down again.
I'd shut down every story in all those cities. You
can't make money. You're selling coffee at high priced already. Well,

(06:24):
you got you're gonna start charging people ten fifteen bucks
a cup of coffee. Again. I'm running Starbucks right now,
and if again, you know what I do, If I
was doing in those cities, I said, okay, we're gonna
you know, we're gonna, We're gonna change the concept in

(06:44):
these cities. You want these types of benefits we're running
were not like an Italian cafe, like one that's actually
in Italy. You're getting rid of all the BS coffee drinks.
You're just doing you know, the normal cappuccino especially no
take out, no, none of that takeout nonsense. Okay, where
people are lined up using apps. No, no, no, no, you

(07:07):
come in Italy, you pay two different prices. You sit down,
you have to pay more to sitting coffee, you standing
up at the bar having it there, But no, you're
paying less. That's what I would do in all three
of those cities. And then you have a lot less workers,
lot less workers. I'd look work to make it very
much like at a time place, I'd get a you know,

(07:29):
liquor license, you know whatnot and handle it that way.
This is not possible. You're you're a barista. You get
your demanding starting pay at twenty dollars an hour up
to twenty five dollars an hour plus benefits, plus vacation
time plus thirteen days six. I mean, are you kidding me?

(07:51):
I haven't taken thirteen sick days in my entire life.
In fact, I don't remember the last time I had
a sick day. Oh yeah, yeah, I was in the hospital.
I had no choice. I couldn't work that day. They've
lost their minds Okay again, I would deal with this

(08:13):
if I was a kid, like okay, So we can't
do it. You know what, We're gonna change the have
a different concept Starbucks in those cities. This is the
way we're gonna have to do things we can't. We
can't run a coffee shop like this. They can't. It's

(08:33):
not gonna be profitable. There's no way, shape matter of form,
unless you're charging a ridiculous amount for coffee that people
just are not gonna pay. But again, you're a barista man,
and I'm sorry you're kind of ruining for everybody else.
I'm pretty good about tipping. I don't don't ask me again.
You know, I point a sale before I've been served.

(08:54):
Don't ask me for a tip you're denied now, I mean,
you guys are pigs. Watchdog on Wall Street dot Com
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