Maryland Barista Speaks Out on Early Benefits of Union Membership
Submitted on Tue, 02/20/2007 - 4:17pm
Seth Dietz, Starbucks barista and IWW member in Rockville Maryland, tells his story:
Life at Starbucks has improved for baristas in Rockville with a union! We’ve already had victories around the trash in our store, work hours, respect, and recycling. There is a stronger sense of community among workers. Union members can now walk through the doors with a spring in their step after letting the company know that we aren’t going to be pushed around anymore by bosses. Since declaring membership in the IWW Starbucks Workers Union the presence of a union in our store is bringing about real change.
Trash Problem Solved With Increased Staffing
Our store used to open with two people in the morning. The plan is now three people will be scheduled in the morning. The result is giving workers adequate time to complete their daily morning tasks including removing the trash heap in the back. We had wanted a second trashcan to create a safe walkway in the back of the store which was inundated with trash but it turns out there’s not really space for one. But adding another worker to help us we decided is a better solution! This victory is a direct result of “unofficial negotiations” with the District Manager after we went public with a demand to solve the trash problem.
We got our hours! You got yours?
Pre-union not that many people were happy with their hours. But now everyone is getting the minimum number of hours they want. Whether a barista is trying to maintain health benefits or touch forty hours a week. It is not a problem anymore at least at our shop where there is a union presence for workers to work the hours they want.
Respect
Immediately, we won respect from our management team, and are now unofficially recognized by managers as a power to be cautious of. They realize that workers united are strong! Since our going public with the union a lot of the media has been talking poorly about Starbucks and in response Howard Schultz decided to show respect to baristas everywhere. This was done by writing a letter to all partners thanking them for their hard work and creating the third place. We in the union believe it was a quaint, however weightless, gesture. If Schultz means what he says he does, he can at least give baristas a raise. How about a living wage Howard? Starbucks coffee company could afford to pay a fair wage and still be highly profitable.
Union Institutes Recycling Program
We baristas are tired of Starbucks cashing in on a socially responsible image they have created with empty promises. It was not until the union demanded that a recycling program be set in place for customers did the company start to move in the right direction. Now signs are posted encouraging customers to hand us their recyclables. Improvements to the environmental workings of Starbucks policies are in the works on the union agenda. We would just like to let everyone know that recycle bins would be in place in all Starbucks cafes at this moment if the bins weren’t “so ugly” according to district managers. Just goes to show you how much this company really cares.