[jmack]

Originally Posted by G MONEY

Whoa. Bite your tongue. I don't drink hot coffee. But I will get a Vente iced carmel macchiato with Extra vanilla. Try it before you hate it. Lol. Sugar bomb

That's not coffee, it's a dessert.

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by chris719

I work on a team designing robotics among other things. These projects didn't just start because of unionization. Fast food corps have been looking to replace humans for decades. This was going to happen when the devices were reliable enough and capable of performing enough tasks. Blaming unionization for this is short sighted. Corporations like SBUX will shave a penny at any opportunity. The difference in comp between union and non-union "baristas" will pale in comparison to a barista and no barista.

Honest question, if your entire 'workforce' has unionized are you able to fire all of your union workers at once and replace them with robots legally? Thus dissolving the union.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Unionization efforts, minimum wage battles and mandated benefits have been around for a while too, thus the interest in such projects. Recent unionization efforts, the events leading up to them and the outlook for further such efforts served to accelerate the need for such projects to move forward.

I agree there is no single trigger, but legislative, economic and other trends that make labor more expensive and volatile require businesses that rely on low-skill / low-wage staff to invest in technologies that reduce dependence on labor. So disagree unionization had nothing to do with it.

If you want to use unionization as a proxy for rising labor costs, fine, but unions are as weak as they have ever been; it's driven primarily by other factors.

Starbucks is very profitable, let's not paint them as a victim because they need to pay an extra couple bucks an hour to some kids. Starbucks had net income of $4.2B in a down year last year because of COVID. Oh no, might be fewer share buybacks .

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Torgus

Honest question, if your entire 'workforce' has unionized are you able to fire all of your union workers at once and replace them with robots legally? Thus dissolving the union.

I think it depends on the terms negotiated between the company and union, but I'm not a labor law expert. Hard to see it happening in most cases. Someone has to operate the robots unless you're thinking in some future world where robots means actual intelligence.

[G MONEY]

Originally Posted by ryan stewart

I have it on the road when I'm stuck and I can't find a better place, it's still crap. It's the McDonald's of coffee and it sounds like if they're going to try and automate it it's going to get even worse with pre-cooked food that just gets nuked.

I also love the celebration of elimination of jobs and the idea they should "get a real job" as if the service industry was just made up out of nowhere and there is an unlimited supply of awesome white collar jobs every can have access to if they just dug out their bootstraps.

All to Stan for a company pleading poverty that had record revenue and profits last year and committed 30 BILLION to stock buybacks...

It's the American way!! Lol. Or claim bankrupt multiple times and then become president. Lol. MERICA Baby.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by chris719

If you want to use unionization as a proxy for rising labor costs, fine, but unions are as weak as they have ever been; it's driven primarily by other factors.

Starbucks is very profitable, let's not paint them as a victim because they need to pay an extra couple bucks an hour to some kids. Starbucks had net income of $4.2B in a down year last year because of COVID. Oh no, might be fewer share buybacks .

No one is painting them as a victim. They are making rational decisions, to which you obviously object and can't comprehend.

[G MONEY]

Originally Posted by jmack

That's not coffee, it's a dessert.

Exactly!! Shit is yummy

[chris719]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

No one is painting them as a victim. They are making rational decisions, to which you obviously object and can't comprehend.

No, I'm being pragmatic and pushing back against obviously politically motivated hot takes of a press release.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by chris719

No, I'm being pragmatic and pushing back against obviously politically motivated hot takes of a press release.

LOL with a politically motivated take of your own.

[NYG]

I see both sides but the cost of unskilled labor is absolutely stupid right now and worst of all, the quality of their service and production is decreasing quickly.

Lol @ people expressing opinions on how much profit is "ok" for a company to make. Please move somewhere else.

[chris719]

Originally Posted by NYG

I see both sides but the cost of unskilled labor is absolutely stupid right now and worst of all, the quality of their service and production is decreasing quickly.

Lol @ people expressing opinions on how much profit is "ok" for a company to make. Please move somewhere else.

Yes, Starbucks is actually crap. It would probably be better if they invested some of their profits back into the product instead of going to buybacks and dividends. Not a complaint unique to Starbucks.

I shit you not, they actually discontinued their Almond Croissant last month, the one halfway decent thing on their menu, presumably because the cost to produce it got too high. Maybe the almonds threatened to unionize .

[Tyga11]

I like Starbucks because it's consistent. My Vanilla Cream Cold Brew always tastes the same. Dunkin for instance is very hit or miss. When it's good it's great but when it's bad it's horrible. I know what I'm getting.

It's just too damn expensive now. A venti iced coffee is almost $5.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by chris719

Yes, Starbucks is actually crap. It would probably be better if they invested some of their profits back into the product instead of going to buybacks and dividends. Not a complaint unique to Starbucks.

I shit you not, they actually discontinued their Almond Croissant last month, the one halfway decent thing on their menu, because the cost to produce it got too high.

I won't defend Starbucks for even a second.

Trash coffee, trash lines, trash sippy cups that spill out of the sides every single time.

But people keep going back and as much as I dislike their coffee, if there's a demand allowing them to sell 10 cent coffee for 10 dollars then more power to them.

Capitalism > Everything

[chris719]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

I like Starbucks because it's consistent. My Vanilla Cream Cold Brew always tastes the same. Dunkin for instance is very hit or miss. When it's good it's great but when it's bad it's horrible. I know what I'm getting.

It's just too damn expensive now. A venti iced coffee is almost $5.

You're right. I actually prefer Dunkin's regular hot coffee to Starbucks because their beans aren't burned, but it's the polar opposite super light roast. Anything beyond regular coffee is pretty bad at Dunkin.

The only reason I visit Starbucks is because you know what you're getting when traveling or in a place without good local shops.

[NYG]

Originally Posted by chris719

You're right. I actually prefer Dunkin's regular hot coffee to Starbucks because their beans aren't burned, but it's the polar opposite super light roast. Anything beyond regular coffee is pretty bad at Dunkin.

The only reason I visit Starbucks is because you know what you're getting when traveling or in a place without good local shops.

Brother, you need to go to Wawa

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by chris719

I work on a team designing robotics among other things. These projects didn't just start because of unionization. Fast food corps have been looking to replace humans for decades. This was going to happen when the devices were reliable enough and capable of performing enough tasks. Blaming unionization for this is short sighted. Corporations like SBUX will shave a penny at any opportunity. The difference in comp between union and non-union "baristas" will pale in comparison to a barista and no barista.

Yeah that argument is complete BS. Ive probably been responsible for the elimination of 3000 jobs over my career (work in software, process optimization and automation) and zero of those have been union.

Hate you break this to you: Your employer is not your friend. 99% of them only see you as a cost on a balance sheet and if that cost can be minimized then good for them. They will pay someone like me $600k to do it. And the stuff I do isnt unskilled labor jobs. Its optimization of corporate processes. Intake, billing, accounting, payables, human resources, etc. You know what happens when we make those processes "more efficient" right?

So union, non-union, apple polisher, gruff-but-effective guy, employee of the month, doesnt matter. If the company determines they can generate as much or more profit without you then, poof, you history.

And the idea of "get a better job" isn't infinite. Anyone toured the BMW factory lately? Yeah, the jobs that remain are AWESOME. Instead of assembling stuff there is a guy monitoring the machine assembling stuff, ONE GUY. Its not like they replaced 300 laborers with 300 robot monitors. GM still makes a record number of cars in North America, they are just doing it with 1/10th the amount of labor.

[Torgus]

What I hate most about StarFucks is the people who drink it. Also, it's fucking water and ground up beans. Their profit margins are through the roof(Same with Dunkins). F them.

A successfully running DunkinDonuts makes ~70% of it's profit(not revenue) from coffee alone.

[ryan stewart]

Originally Posted by NYG

I see both sides but the cost of unskilled labor is absolutely stupid right now and worst of all, the quality of their service and production is decreasing quickly.

Lol @ people expressing opinions on how much profit is "ok" for a company to make. Please move somewhere else.

Ok, on the flip "LOL at people expressing opinions on how much salary is "OK for an employee to make. Please move somewhere else."

[NYG]

Originally Posted by ryan stewart

Ok, on the flip "LOL at people expressing opinions on how much salary is "OK for an employee to make. Please move somewhere else."

The owner of the business and the free market determines that.

That's how it works in the United States of America. I was born in a communist country and I'm very happy with how things work here - why would I move?

[G MONEY]

Originally Posted by NYG

Brother, you need to go to Wawa

Lol!!! The burgers are good there to!! Believe it or not:-)

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...Taco Bell employees and other fast food employees may be cheering this recent wage increase and well they should...

Actually, they won't. The first thing the manager will do is cut hours to make payroll. They'll get around 50% fewer hours and won't be able to afford their own products/food.

[shiftdnb]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

I can see how you could take the OP's message that way. This is an off topic forum and good for you for sharing your point of view.

I didn't take the OP's message that way at all. Certainly, the OP embedded the employee into the story because you can't tell the story with out it.

Originally Posted by Chick Webb

Read - you complained about how tough the job is? We'll fix that for you. By reducing headcount in the stores. Starting with you.

Read - the machines do it better, anyway. You might want to get some real skills.

Read - make that three... maybe four baristas we don't need any longer. Is this space suddenly looking a lot bigger to you?

Read - because they'll be ex-employees on the other side of the counter with the other customers, provided they don't blow their unemployment on avocado toast.

Right on, Howie! I dumped my SBUX earlier this year when the whole union thing started, but I may have to pick some back up.

Originally Posted by Chick Webb

That said, AFAIC the sooner the I-demand-this-that-and-the-other-thing-for-doing-nothing-more-than-occupying-space crowd figures it out the better for all of us. If they don't get the message from half-billion-$$ sized wacks over the head like this we are truly doomed. Sadly, I don't think they will, as they are being encouraged to continue digging their own graves.

Meanwhile he's talking about making money off stocks because the company is buying back stock with their profits and investing in machines instead of employees. He's celebrating this story not because of the advancements of science and automation but that it will fuck over employees. Sad thing is if you read the article nothing about employees losing their jobs in it. Just growth for the company talking about opening more stores.