Paper Cups, Tinsel Reputation

Starbucks reputation on line in court case | | Guardian Unlimited Business

I can’t say that I am particularly passionate about the unionization of Starbuck’s employees. It would be nice, perhaps, because it might bring greater consistency to the Starbuck’s experience. The Starbucks union organizing web site claims that they wish to have:

  • Increased pay and raises
  • Guaranteed hours with the option of full-time status
  • An end to understaffing
  • A healthier and safer workplace

Those all sound like reasonable demands. On those rare occasions when I have entered a Starbucks, I have wished that the cafe were in a slightly greater state of order and cleanliness. It seems as if the staff are always struggling to balance their time between cleaning and fulfilling orders, but they just don’t seem to have enough time to clean because customers are perennially queued to order. Of course, some locations are better than others, and some times of the day are better than others. Nevertheless, it does make sense that a large corporation should have sufficient resources to make every moment that they are open to business fairly consistent.

Despite all this, the reason I hate going to Starbucks is that they do not serve their drinks in real porcelain cups. I am told that certain locations will do so if I request it, but why the hell would I need to request a real cup of coffee?

And, no, playing Paul McCartney for 24 hours non-stop is no incentive for me.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.