Thousands of crybaby baristas at some 200 Starbucks locations are planning to walk off the job for a day, per the far-left Associated Press.
For context, Starbucks currently has more than 9,500 locations.
The Workers United Union has been trying to unionize a couple of hundred Starbucks locations for a couple of years now, and this is the union’s doing. The choice of the day is deliberate. Thursday is something called Red Cup Day, where customers overpay for a Christmas drink and get a reusable, plastic, worthless, red Starbucks cup.
The reasons for the one-day strike? Baristas are upset that they have to work hard:
Neha Cremin, a Starbucks barista in Oklahoma City, said she was striking to protest understaffing in stores, especially during promotions like Red Cup Day. Cremin said workers are already overwhelmed filling delivery orders, drive-thru orders, mobile orders and in-store orders; promotions add another layer of stress.
“Understaffing hurts workers and also creates an unpleasant experience for customers,” Cremin said. “Starbucks has made it clear that they won’t listen to workers, so we’re advocating for ourselves by going on strike.”
I’ve been working for 43 years. Being understaffed, overstressed, and overwhelmed is called “having a job.”
I honestly don’t care if these locations unionize or not. But if they do, you can expect to pay a lot more for what is already a ridiculously overpriced cup of coffee.
And why the one-day strike?
One day?
That’s not a strike. That’s a tantrum.
Has no one introduced our strike-happy baristas to these?
I’m always happy to see people making a good living, even people who take coffee orders, but are we going to eliminate entirely the shitty jobs that build character in high school kids? Those jobs, I think, are important. You work hard for no money; the hours suck, the work is tedious, your boss is a guy who thinks a pocketful of keys makes the man… Those are the days that help make you who you are, that instill a work ethic, and a work ethic is more vital to your success than a college degree.
People seem to be trying to turn the work experience into what’s become of the campus experience. It used to be you went to college to grow and learn through adversity and challenges. Now, the kids are in charge, and everything’s easy. Is that what work will be like for young people —these unions move in and basically eliminate work while you and I pay $14 for a cup of coffee?
Stuff like this is not doing these kids any favors. It only turns them into forever-entitled babies who never grow up and can’t deal with a world that won’t conform to them. That’s no way to live.
Looking back at all the jobs I held before I turned 20, the idea of haughtily walking off for a day is inconceivable. Not only would it be ungrateful, I would’ve been fired. No one in my generation thought this way. We grinded through the hours, clocked out, and partied. We didn’t sweat what we couldn’t control. We dealt with it. I bet we were a lot happier than these spoiled brats, too… And isn’t that all that matters?
John Nolte’s debut novel Borrowed Time (Bombardier Books) is available today. You can read an exclusive excerpt here and a review of the novel here.
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