Starbucks to Require Employee Availability Around the Clock and Cut Workforce in Major National Initiative
Submitted on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 8:41pm
New York, NY- The Starbucks Coffee Co. is in the process of an extreme
revamping of its workforce policies according to company documents obtained by
the Starbucks Workers Union of the Industrial Workers of the World. The
initiative, dubbed "Optimal Scheduling", will require employees to make
themselves available to work essentially around the clock to obtain so-called
full-time status. Even for workers able to make the extraordinary sacrifice to
obtain "full-time" status, no work hours are guaranteed- identical to Starbucks'
current system of part-time status for all retail hourly workers. In addition,
Starbucks will lay off workers who cannot meet minimum availability
requirements. As baristas learn of the new program, discontent is
rising.
"I've had to make myself available each week from Tuesday to Sunday
starting at 4:45am until 11pm in the hopes of possibly getting 32 hours of work
but not being guaranteed a single hour," said Liberte Locke, a Starbucks barista
in New York and member of the IWW Starbucks Workers Union. "It's impossible for
me to get a second job now even though I need one and impossible to have a life
outside of work."
Under the new system, baristas who opt for pseudo full-time status have to
make themselves available to work 70% of the total hours their store is open
during the week. In an example given in the company documents, a store open 115
hours per week requires a barista to be available to work 80.5 hours each week -
over double the standard work week. Week-to-week Starbucks can then schedule
workers anywhere within that availability. In addition, workers who cannot make
themselves available for at least three shifts a week will be fired, absent a
"compelling reason" which Starbucks has not defined. Weekend workers must be
available for at least 16 hours to avoid termination.
"Starbucks' 'Optimal Scheduling' sacrifices family life on the altar of
business flexibility," said Daniel Gross, an organizer with the IWW Starbucks
Workers Union and a former barista at the coffee chain. "Once upon a time in
America, employees got a work schedule they and their families could count on.
The Starbucks and Wal-Marts of the world are doing everything in their power to
put an end to that security.
The union vows actions around the country against 'Optimal Scheduling'.
Founded in 2004, the IWW Starbucks Workers Union is an organization of over 200
current and former baristas united to win a living wage and secure work hours.
Through direct action, advocacy, and legal victories, the union has won
important workplace improvements for Starbucks baristas around the
country.
Related: Starbucks Looks to Reduce Labor Costs, Wall Street Journal- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122307217095003501.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Watch online at- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jLmCetMKI
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Daniel Gross
Organizer
IWW Starbucks Workers Union
Ph:(917) 577-1110
Fx:(917) 591-6128