“Adam Turl talks to barista and union organizer Erik Forman about the campaign to organize Starbucks.”

This sheds a lot of light and alters some points for my prior comments.

I still would have liked for Turl to have been more objective in his interview of Forman and to have asked questions to clarify and establish the importance of worker exploitations. Specifically how Forman’s assertions may have been viewed as clearly exploitative.

Sorry if this is being too naive but some of us are not in your day to day fight and when we try to debate your issues with other we don’t have enough clarity to make relevant sense of it.

I wish Adam Turl would have clarified the meaning of worker exploitation and used examples in this article to focus the point. To me it reads as a loose citation of rants even though I support the issue. I am currently an unemployed student taking English Level 1A and have no ties to this other than I enjoy coffee. I am a novice writer at best.

The article states, ““The core of the problem boils down to this: Starbucks orders ‘labor’ the same way it orders coffee beans or paper cups,” said Erik Forman, who works in the Mall of America outside Minneapolis-St. Paul.”

Is Forman just an employee at one store with isolated issues or a union leader with a clear understanding of rampant issues nationwide? Though Forman is the sole source of information in the article he is not referred to as an authority, which is something I deduce by the end.

This articles lack of objectivity and research lends little credibility to the cause it is trying to illuminate. I would like to have seen a statement of a credible source for the following; “A major issue for Starbucks workers is the way the company organizes hours. If baristas want a ‘full-time’ workweek of more than 32 hours, they must make themselves available for up to 70 hours a week.” as this is unfortunate if true.

Again quoted from Forman, “…workers and their families often lose their health care for six months at a time.”

And another Forman quote, “We have fought numerous battles over health and safety issues, discrimination, and unfair treatment by management in the workplace.”

“Less than 42 percent of Starbucks employees are on the company’s health care plan–a lower rate than Wal-Mart. “Is this because they are young students who enjoy the flexible hours and don’t see the impending need for health coverage?”

Are we to take these statements as fact, among others in this disappointingly developed article?

It also looks like Starbuck’s employees are not immune to downsizing pains affecting all other industries. It just sounds like the SWU or Forman is unhappy the corporation is still making a profit. The purchase of a corporate jet was probably saving the corporation time and money over alternatives, so they probably don’t see it as a $45m expense.

Not having guaranteed hours for full-time baristas is one thing but during this time of economic turmoil many companies are issuing forced furlough and wage decreases; even the USPS regarding the former! And still nothing is guaranteed.

(Of course his formula had more weight before the current inflationary recession.)

Just the same, my point is that for years, Starbuck’s, with the help of high-power accounting firms, has been putting its cumulative profits into a smorgasbord of high return investments which have no disclaimers like “Do no evil.”

Was there any wonder that the corporation was building an outlet on every corner: the return on their investments outstripping the profits they made on their core profit?

The owner of the local coffee shop across the street poured a case of beer on the landlord’s (who brought starbucks in) car…

I went to Chicago and was amazed at how big a ‘small’ is at dunkin donuts…. it’s like drinking liquid diabetes.

“fair trade coffee” ensures that farmers are paid a min. of U.S. 1.42 per pound… Is that fair considering that same coffee sells for 10-12 dollars per pound in U.S.?

Corrected message:

Max Shields: americans are not dumb, people in this country buy their coffee at supermarkets, specially Cuban coffee like Bustelo which is low in price and tastes real good. I bet that these coffees are a lot better than Starbucks Coffees.

Although Bustelo is a privatized-corporation. It would be better if the US government nationalizes it (Chavez style):

http://www.javacabana.com/?p=catalog&parent=2

http://www.javacabana.com/?p=catalog&parent=2

This is the page from the UK Boycott Israel site. It is a lengthy list for Starbucks and its Zionist- suporting boss Howard Schultz.

http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-starbucks.html

As Obama has said he will close Guantanamo Bay, that will mean the demise of the Starbucks located outside that god-awful hole thank goodness where 1,700 cups are served per day.

Fortunately, Starbucks is collapses along with the American economy.

i wish i was rich , everybody loves wealth and being comfortable, but the reality is that in this plutocratic-economic system only a few get a big piece of the economic pie. Individually we can’t escape economic limitations tha americans are facing. There is no anti-political solution to a human’s problems.

The only solution is an electoral, political solution for every thing in this world. I have learned that politics is the real tool that people have to fix their lifestyles.

However only in 2012 we can do that (provided that there was a third people’s party as an option)

http://www.isrelate.com/pages/content/2/81/Starbucks-Supports-Israel

Chairman, president and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz is a Jew who actively supports Israel through his multi-million dollar company. 56 year-old Schultz has been part of Starbucks since 1982 when he joined as a Marketing Consultant. Starbucks currently serves 15 million customers a week with a variety of coffees, teas and snacks in nearly 4,000 stores worldwide. They also offer a range of Kosher and Fair trade products.

Schultz has helped with projects and seminars held in both Israel and North America, in which university students hear Israeli perspectives on the current Middle East tensions. In 1998 Schultz was honoured with “The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award” for his services in “playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel.” He has also been commended by those inside the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Speaking in 2002 at a synagogue in Seattle, Howard Schultz warned his fellow Jews about the rise of anti-Semitism: “What is going on in the Middle East is not an isolated part of the world. The rise of anti-Semitism is at an all-time high since the 1930′s…If you leave this synagogue tonight and go back to your home and ignore this, then shame on us” he said.

Starbucks even opened 6 stores in Israel, teaming up with Shalom Coffee Ltd. However Starbucks were forced to pull out of the deal in 2003 due to ‘operational challenges.’ Schultz continues to support Israel and plans to take his company back to the Land in the future.

Ground needs to warm, moisture needed.

Trying to determine transient population so risk to pocket[your health]book is minimized.

Long day, to bed now.