Starbucks Strike

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was his insistence on investing in employees as assets and choosing to improve the workforce he had instead of seek to replace/augment it.

He was big on internal advancement and pay raises and felt they built a better workforce than outside hiring could. I don't know if he was always correct in that assessment but he seems to have been good at what he did. The crux of his argument, by the way, was basically "you get what you pay for."


that is 1000% my mindset and style with folks who have worked for me - and why I enjoyed a 98% retention rate (inclusive of voluntary and involuntary) -

good people are an asset
 
If Starbucks could afford to pay 20$/hr while keeping the price of a cup of coffee reasonable they would have already done that. They’re not a charity, they’re a business. I’m not paying more than 2-3$ for a cup of black coffee, period. IF COGS go up, then the price of a cup goes up. No way around it. That means whatever they’re paying you at the union needs to go up next because they’re tired of everyone b1tching about how they can’t afford a cup of coffee anymore….
They did declare a $614,000,000 dividend this year.
 
Starbucks gross profits for 2021 were 20 billion...tell me again how they can't afford to pay their employees $20/hour.

What a joke.

I've largely stayed out of this and will continue to do so. But, you know very well that companies with a large gross profit can still be bleeding money. EBITDA is a much more reasonable reference here and Starbucks has plenty of that as well. Gross profit is meaningless except to use a bigger number.

For reference look at Uber. Over $8B In gross profit, yet EBITDA shows -$2B. But maybe they can afford to pay people more too?
 
Being a successful business owner, working hard, and profiting from your time & investments seems to be frowned upon these days. Gimme Gimme Gimme is the new trend and unfortunately it will backfire drastically for the employees who have been suckered into the movement. This thread is going nowhere because too many lazy people want everything without putting in the effort or knowing what its like to sacrifice,,
Move to Canada, it's all peaches and cream
Yep. It's crazy how the risk = reward mentality for society that built this country has changed to people who want no risk, but all the rewards. People who want full time pay , for part time work. People who want to be paid as if they have responsibility, but don't' actually want to be responsible for anything.

There is getting ready to be a big correction and lot of folks who got new jobs, homes, and cars in the last 2 years while markets were out of whack may be in for some rude awakenings as they get laid off and find the job market is no longer red hot, find out the 40k truck they paid 6k0 for is now 20k upside down, and the 250k house they bought for 400k is also way upside down.

The closest thing to Canada in the USA is working for the federal government. Most everything as far as benefits is given to them, little if any financial responsibility for what they do (same check no matter how hard they work), non revenue generating jobs so no real requirements for performance ( you tried so that's good enough), promotions based on who has been there longest, not performance based, etc.. Jobs that you have to try hard to get fired from.
 
Yep. It's crazy how the risk = reward mentality for society that built this country has changed to people who want no risk, but all the rewards. People who want full time pay , for part time work. People who want to be paid as if they have responsibility, but don't' actually want to be responsible for anything.

There is getting ready to be a big correction and lot of folks who got new jobs, homes, and cars in the last 2 years while markets were out of whack may be in for some rude awakenings as they get laid off and find the job market is no longer red hot, find out the 40k truck they paid 6k0 for is now 20k upside down, and the 250k house they bought for 400k is also way upside down.

The closest thing to Canada in the USA is working for the federal government. Most everything as far as benefits is given to them, little if any financial responsibility for what they do (same check no matter how hard they work), non revenue generating jobs so no real requirements for performance ( you tried so that's good enough), promotions based on who has been there longest, not performance based, etc.. Jobs that you have to try hard to get fired from.
At what point does the risk become stupidity?
 
By the definition of a livable wage, you would need to make minimum wages in Denver Colorado approximately $37 an hour. Is this what some of us are advocating?
 
And if Starbucks is forced to pay a livable wage to their employees, then so is every coffee shop out there, including the mom and pop shops who are just trying to keep a business alive. What happens to them? A lot of opinions on this forum are basically made by whatever gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, without considering the consequences.
 
And if Starbucks is forced to pay a livable wage to their employees, then so is every coffee shop out there, including the mom and pop shops who are just trying to keep a business alive. What happens to them? A lot of opinions on this forum are basically made by whatever gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling, without considering the consequences.
Heaven forbid if Mom and Pop actually have to work their own business...
 
I don't really care either way about unions. Some are probably really good and others have probably suffered from a great deal of mission creep. I belong to a trade guild of sorts that does a LOT of lobbying that does matter to us.

As a thought experiment, what would happen to innovation, stability, profits, etc. (Basically the overall health of a corporation) if regulations were passed capping CEO salary to 20x the average full-time equivalent employee income (I would exclude founders and owners as they often have different motivations)? You might say, "well the market pays them what they are worth" but I don't know if I believe their skill sets are that unique. We aren't talking about professional athletes.

Just saying i dont think the free market always immediately finds the most efficient way to do things. For example, there's a good chance Twitter will be just fine after losing 75% of its workforce. And there seems to be a massive shedding of employees in SV as investors are becoming interested in profitability over growth and market share. Maybe CEO pay is a other glitch that the free market hasn't sorted out yet.

I like to think of the economy as a game to be played with rules constantly being tweaked to enhance the game for everyone. If pitchers get too much of an upper hand, change the ball so it is harder to spin. If batters are doing too well, raise the mound, etc. Libertarians would say there should be no rules, the game will just naturally benefit everyone. Socialists would put so many rules in place that the game isn't played at all. Maybe CEO pay needs a rule change. Maybe not. I'd rather look at domestic vs foreign payroll first.
 
Why people would be against the working stiff having a seat at the table is beyond me. Corporate greed is off the charts and very few people are willing to fight against it...

When the working stiff starts demanding 30 days paid vacation, 8 months parental leave, etc, etc. Then a cup of already overpriced coffee is $25. What you say is corporate greed is in effect, reality. Corporations make money, investors (us) make money. It's that simple.

Why people are under the impression you can make a living and supporting a family serving coffee escapes me.
 
Heaven forbid if Mom and Pop actually have to work their own business...
They will, and charge you $15 for a cup of coffee as all another goods and services go up in price by 30% and that $37 an hour you're paying the barista once again isn't enough to afford an apartment. I wish the world was as simple as the pipe dream you're living in.
 
When the working stiff starts demanding 30 days paid vacation, 8 months parental leave, etc, etc. Then a cup of already overpriced coffee is $25. What you say is corporate greed is in effect, reality. Corporations make money, investors (us) make money. It's that simple.

Why people are under the impression you can make a living and supporting a family serving coffee escapes me.

My comment goes way beyond baristas and is pointed at the workforce as a whole. My experience is in industrial manufacturing, power generation, and pipeline. I’ve see countless people willing to eat a shit sandwich and not speak up/out over working conditions, benefits, and wages. A contract gives a person a voice and gives both sides clear cut rules to follow. I don’t understand why people are against that.
 
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