Despite Starbucks’s claims that it is a progressive employer that prioritizes the needs of its workers, newly released data shows that a majority of the company’s hourly workers make less than the average living wage across the U.S.
According to research from Harvard/UCSF’s The Shift Project and the Economic Policy InstituteStarbucks’ hourly workers make less than $15 an hr. About a quarter of the company’s hourly workers make between $10 and $12 an hour, while another quarter make about $12 to $14 an hour, the data finds. Only 10% of its workers earn above $18 an hr.
This means that a majority of the company’s hourly workers don’t make what economists qualify as a living wage. Even excludingFull-time expenses such as debts and retirement savings workers must makeAccording to 2021 data, a wage of $15 an hour or more is required for a single adult who has no children to support themselves in most states. For two adults with two children, it is the living wage in 2019 wasAccording to researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, $16.54 an hr was the average hour. Inflation has driven this amount up in the last year, so it is most likely that this amount is higher now.
The labor movement has long sought a $15 per hour minimum wage. However, the $15 activists demanded in 2012 is now only worth $12. Advocates are asking for a new base of $15. Minimum $18More. California is the state houses more Starbucks locations than any other stateA living wage is a salary earned by an adult who has no children. $19.41 an hourAccording to MIT.
Many Starbucks employees live in large, expensive metropolitan areasPart-time employees can work for the company while still working other jobs or going to school. Workers also say that The company has been cutting hours across the board for part- and full-time workers, making liberal cuts to workers’ finances as a tactic to quash the union drive.
Despite the fact the company is making records profits, this is still a problem. Last year, the company earned record profits. company’s profits grew24 percent to $24.5 billion total, while Kevin Johnson, then-CEO, received almost 40 percent in compensation. to over $20 million. Starbucks Workers United, which works to unionize hundreds stores across the nation, said that the company is cutting back on hours to make union bust.
Starbucks often touts itself as a progressive company, referring to employees as “partners” and making political statementsSupport LGBTQ people and oppose moves by people like Donald Trump, even though they bar workersThey are forbidden from making their own political statements at the workplace. Workers say that the progressive environment that attracted them to the company has diminished over the years — if it ever existed within the company in the first place — and that they’ve been increasingly treated as disposable, during the pandemic in particular.
The company has seen a significant increase in sales over the past few months. been firing workers for seemingly trivial reasons, or for violations of rules that workers say would not normally constitute a termination — including for a sink breaking, allegedly being late and allegedly recording supervisorsWithout their permission. As ViceAccording to reports, at most 18 workers for the union were fired in the last two months.
Starbucks has been a union-busting machine throughout its campaign. It has many benefits as a reason that workers don’t need a union. Its anti-union website. the company bragsFor example, workers can speak out about their health insurance and retirement benefits to show how they are treated. Employees say that they are treated well. Many of the benefits are listed below the company offers aren’t accessible to workers because they’re too expensive with their current salaries.
