Starbucks is also panicking because various stores are are also
attempting to unionize.
Some have already been successful.
So they brought back their former CEO,
Howard Schultz to serve as CEO for the third time.
And the reason why they brought him back is because he has been one of the most
effective union busters.
In fact, recently, he had this town hall style meeting and
he addressed the efforts to unionize.
I thought the way that he worded it was just fascinating.
So let's take a quick look at that.
>> Here's where it gets a little sensitive because I've been coached a little bit but
I do want to talk about something pretty serious.
We can't ignore what is happening in
the country as it relates to companies
throughout the country being assaulted in
many ways by the threat of unionization.
>> Assaulted.
They're being assaulted Jink, they're being assaulted by that threat.
It's just hilarious.
By the way, I should note that about an hour after that town hall,
Starbucks fired a Phoenix-based barista Layla Dalton,
beautiful name by the way, a move that was seen as retaliation for
her involvement in union organizing at the store where she worked.
Last month, the NLRB, National Labor Relations Board issued a formal complaint
against Starbucks for disciplining two employees including Dalton for
working to unionize their Phoenix shop.
>> Okay, Starbucks last year made $4.87 billion dollars in profits.
When the executives kept all of that, and the shareholders kept all of that,
the workers didn't say they were assaulted by Howard Schultz for keeping the money.
But when the workers say, hey,
can we also get a part of your $5 billion dollars in profits?
I'm not a guy who says that it's black and white, that the workers are the only ones
who should get the money and the executives are useless.
But the executives do say that about the workers.
They say, the executives are such geniuses.
They deserve hundreds of millions of dollars.
But the workers, they deserve the bare, bare minimum, okay?
I think that it makes sense to have a fair apportionment and
in order to get a fair apportionment at a giant company like Starbucks making $5
billion dollars in profits, you would need a union to organize the workers so
they have leverage.
That's not assaulting anyone, that's saying, hey,
we all made a lot of money through our hard work here today.
The workers did, the executives did,
why don't we share in those winnings that we created together?
Howard Schultz coz you're assaulting my money.
Come on man, how many billions do you have Howard Schultz?
Don't give me this nonsense about assaulting Starbucks.
All right, one last thing guys.
I need you to understand that you can tell who's the good guys and
who are the bad guys are and who's faking it and who's not.
Ro Khanna and Bernie Sanders pushed Amazon for
example to do $15 minimum which and they battered him until they won.
And Amazon conceded and got all those workers, you work at Amazon,
you're getting $15 an hour now.
Bernie Sanders and Rod Khanna put money in your hand, food on your family's table.
They got your wages up and significantly so.
You know the republicans did for you?
Nothing, zero, ever, okay?
And do not confuse republican tools, fear and hatred for their goals.
Their goals have always been the same.
Help the rich and only the rich,
and they prove it every day by their action and inaction.