WEBVTT - There is No Unskilled Labor 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.760 Good morning, peeps, and welcome to WOKF Daily with me 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:19.040 your girl Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker, Folks, 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:23.240 So it is official. Senator Tim Scott has decided to 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.960 throw his hat into the ring and announce his run 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:32.159 for the presidency. And what does he say, as the 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:37.960 lone black Republican senator That racism doesn't exist. And anyone 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:41.360 who tells you that America is a racist country is 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.440 lying to you or just maybe has eyes and ears. 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:48.040 We have watched and seen as hate crimes in this 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:53.040 country have skyrocketed. We have seen how racial incidents have 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:56.840 been on the rise. We have witnessed reports from our 0:00:56.960 --> 0:01:00.720 very own intelligence officers who tell us that white domestic 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:06.039 terrorism is the threat to our democracy and not foreign interference. 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:09.160 And so given all of that information, not to mention 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:12.360 the erasure of black history that we are seeing in 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:17.320 states like Florida, the gun violence and mass shootings and 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.200 police killings that we see, the lynching that just occurred 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.120 in New York City by a white man against a 0:01:24.280 --> 0:01:27.480 black unhoused man. I mean, give me a fucking break, 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:30.160 like I get it, Tim Scott, you should be proud 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:32.520 of how high you've been able to rise in your 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.959 own career given all of the realities that black people 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:39.360 in this country live with, and to point those things 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.800 out is not to live in a state of grievance. 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.160 It's to live in the state of reality, right, and 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:50.000 not this fallacy that oh you too. If you just 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:54.480 pretend that racism doesn't exist, and that your party is 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:59.280 not the perpetuator of said racism and racist violence in 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.240 this country, then all will be well, well, we can't 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.480 all afford to live in the fantasy that Tam Scott 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:09.680 announced in his speech this past week, but you know, 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:14.040 bravo to him for trying. You know, folks, later this 0:02:14.080 --> 0:02:17.280 week we are also supposed to hear Ron death Santis' 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:21.240 announcement unless he decides to continue to push that off 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:23.799 as well. And the man is as charismatic as I 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:26.360 would assume a wet noodle. But Alisa, wet noodle can 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.480 give you some type of stickiness in grit ron DeSantis 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:34.080 gives you nothing. He fades on the national stage, and 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.520 while he continues to legislate hate in Florida to all 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:42.200 of the applause of his Republican sickophants, what he is 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:46.880 selling in Florida is not going to be purchased by 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:52.360 the American people nationwide. Speaking of which Gavin Newsom, governor 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.239 of California, has come out and has begun to point 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:59.720 the finger and ask for the records from publishers in 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.440 this country who publish the textbooks because they are contorting 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:08.600 themselves to follow Ron DeSantis' lead. And the reality here, folks, 0:03:09.000 --> 0:03:12.720 is that publishers only publish one book. So if you think, 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.399 just because you don't live in Florida or in Texas, 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.520 that your kids are going to be receiving the quality 0:03:17.639 --> 0:03:21.240 education that they need, think again. And I would hope 0:03:21.400 --> 0:03:24.720 that what Gavin Newsom is doing that maybe our own 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:27.880 governor here in New York, Governor Hokeel, would maybe want 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.560 to step in, being as how she presides over the 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:34.040 largest public school system in the entire fucking country with 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.720 over a million kids. So if capitalism really does rule 0:03:37.720 --> 0:03:41.040 the day, then maybe the two most populous states with 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:44.200 the largest public school systems should start to bring these 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.040 publishers to fucking tasks on what it is that they 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.320 are choosing to print and not to print, and let 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:55.720 Florida flip the bill on their own version of American 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.480 history and let that money come out of their state's pocket. Right. 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:03.400 Speaking of things coming out of folks pockets, Coming up next, 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:09.480 my conversation with Starbucks worker and member of the Starbucks 0:04:09.640 --> 0:04:13.680 Union Michelle Eisen. We have a really great and frank 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:18.880 conversation about what has happened to Starbucks. This company used 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:23.720 to be revered as the new way to treat workers, 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.080 referring to their workers as partners, giving them, you know, 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:31.320 college credits and you know benefits and all of these things. 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:35.080 But as Starbucks began to take over the country, they 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:39.799 started to focus less on employee satisfaction and employee pay 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:43.200 in compensation and started to focus more on their shareholders 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:47.360 and CEOs. And so we sit down with Michelle Eisen, 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:51.560 who brings our attention to the ongoing legal battles and 0:04:51.800 --> 0:04:55.960 unionization that is happening at Starbucks stores across the country. 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:04.720 That conversation is coming up next, folks. I am very 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:11.400 happy to welcome to WOKF Daily for the very first time. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:17.719 Michelle Eisen, who is an organizer for Starbucks Workers United, 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:23.120 a barista in Buffalo, New York, and has been an 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:27.960 advocate on the way in which Starbucks workers have united 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:33.320 across the country to unionize, and you know it was funny. 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:37.200 I went to your Twitter, Michelle, and I saw one 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:40.960 of your pinned tweets from twenty twenty two from last 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:48.200 year that said that Starbucks like happy anniversary to the 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:52.000 fact that you went from zero unions to now. I 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:56.600 just saw in a recent article three hundred stores across 0:05:56.680 --> 0:05:59.039 the country are now unionized. So I just wanted to 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.680 give you an opper tunity to open up and speak 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.240 about how much things have shifted and how quickly they 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:08.880 have shifted because of Starbucks workers united. 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.960 Absolutely. I think actually as of today, we're at three 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:15.400 hundred and twelve, which is a pretty cool number. 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:15.920 Yeah, so. 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:19.839 A year and a half ago, a little over a 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.600 year and a half ago, there were zero unionized Starbucks 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:24.679 in the US, and then you know, as of today 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.640 what I just said, three hundred and twelve, and that 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:32.400 is a result of workers, in this case, Starbucks workers 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.520 acknowledging their worth, acknowledging what their labor is worth to 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.720 this multi billion dollar multinational corporation, and standing up and 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:45.000 demanding better, you know, demanding better from a company that 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.080 not only states that they are a better company, but 0:06:48.279 --> 0:06:51.080 has the resources. If any company in the world has 0:06:51.120 --> 0:06:55.880 the resources to pay their workers fairly and improve working conditions, 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.440 it's a company like Starbucks. And what you're seeing on 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:03.159 the CUSPO this you know, global pandemic, where Starbucks workers were, 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.160 you know, on the front lines. We were Starbucks stayed open, 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.920 we were working customer facing positions for the entirety of 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:15.240 the pandemic in you know, pretty deplorable conditions in some cases, 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.360 for a company that could have afforded to take care 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:20.040 of us better and just simply did not. And the 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:23.160 result is what you're seeing. You're seeing workers saying, hey, 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.040 something's not adding up. You know, this is a company 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:29.080 that is boasting record breaking profits in the midst of 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:32.840 a global pandemic. Not just profits, but record breaking profits. 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:37.120 And you've got a workforce that can't afford to pay 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.400 their rent and put groceries in their fridge with the 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.160 same paycheck. That's not adding up. And so what you're 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.800 seeing right now is workers acknowledging that and realizing that 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.480 their labor is incredibly valuable it is the company, and 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.440 demanding that Starbucks show up and do better by us. 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:58.160 You know, It's so interesting and I think for a 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:00.960 lot of people that have been following the story as 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.560 it has been developing over the last year and a half, 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:07.560 is that you know Howard Schultz, the former CEO, had 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:11.800 been hailed, you know for many many years as you know, 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:16.720 the conscientious CEO as the one that referred to the 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:22.200 employees of Starbucks as quote unquote partners, right, somebody that 0:08:22.360 --> 0:08:26.080 was saying, oh, well, we'll give you credits for college 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.560 and we'll do these things. And so I want you 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:35.120 to talk about how the public narrative of who Starbucks 0:08:35.640 --> 0:08:40.600 created its image to be and what the actuality was 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:45.640 of those workers on the ground that many Americans, millly, 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.680 tens and millions of Americans interfaced with on a daily basis. 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.120 Sure, so when Starbucks came out with all of these 0:08:53.120 --> 0:08:56.000 great benefits, I think this was the early nineties. I'm 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:58.079 sure somebody will fact check for me, but that sounds 0:08:58.120 --> 0:09:01.079 about right. It was groundbreaking. You know, it was one 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.520 of the first companies to offer the benefits packages that 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.680 Starbucks offered in the food service industry, which is where 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:11.520 we you know, the category we fall into. And you know, 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.720 they were one of the first to offer things like benefits, 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.240 eligibility for part time workers, which is where I come in. 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.720 You know, I'm a production stage manager by trade. You know, 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.920 a job and the arts in this country rarely comes 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:25.320 with health benefits, and so I needed something that I 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:27.760 could work part time that would supplement my income and 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.720 allow me to partake in health benefits. That's the whole 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.400 reason I came to the company, you know, thirteen years 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.400 ago almost And at that point, I think that they 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:40.000 were the company that they professed to be, you know, 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:42.199 or they worked really hard to be that company. They 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.720 wanted to have a reputation for taking care of their workers. 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.160 They wanted to have a reputation for caring about their 0:09:47.160 --> 0:09:51.480 communities and caring about the environment. But things started to slip. 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:54.720 You know, Greed becomes a huge factor. Capitalism is what 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.079 it is, and you know, all of a sudden, they're 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.680 really answering more to their shareholders than they are to 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:04.000 their workforce. And that's what I saw as a worker. 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:06.480 As a worker for over a decade, I saw these 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.200 things that brought me to the company start to be 0:10:09.280 --> 0:10:11.960 slowly pulled away from the workers. You know, I saw 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:18.000 my benefits packages they decreased in coverage and my cost 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.559 increased for me. The kicker was twenty eighteen, so we're 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:23.640 pre pandemic right. Twenty eighteen, I broke my ankle. Now 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:25.360 I've been working for the company for eight years at 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:29.120 this point, I've been paying into my benefits the entire time. 0:10:30.280 --> 0:10:32.600 My benefits were so lackluster that I ended up paying 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:35.440 for this entire angle break out of my pocket. You know, 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:37.600 I had to pay out of my pocket with health 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.960 insurance through this company. That's where I started questioning, kind 0:10:40.960 --> 0:10:43.040 of what a what am I still doing here? The 0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.280 only reason I came here is for these benefits, and 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:48.680 b what is happening? What is happening to this company? 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:54.040 Why are these changes shifting? So what you're seeing as 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.560 a company that's been able to ride out this reputation 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:01.480 when there's not really anything to back it up anymore. 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.040 And I think that's what the public really needs to see. 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:06.720 What you are hearing. What you hear about Starbucks, the 0:11:06.720 --> 0:11:08.960 public narrative, the narrative that they want you to all 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:12.840 believe it Maybe was the company at one point, but 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:15.560 lots of changes have happened. I just stopped into a 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.200 store just this morning where I had contact with a 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:21.280 worker from the very first store that I started at 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.280 and she's been with the company now, you know, eleven years. 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:25.920 And I said, hey, how are things going. 0:11:25.960 --> 0:11:28.600 This is also a unionized store, by the way, and 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.000 it's been really rough for us at these unionized stores. 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:33.200 It's been rough in general, but the union workers are 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.200 really taking a smack from this company. And I said, hey, 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:38.160 you know, how how are you How's it going? And 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.040 she said, you know, it's it's ups and downs and 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:41.920 I said, yeah, I know, and she goes, it's just 0:11:42.000 --> 0:11:44.040 not the company it used to be, and I said, no, 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:46.679 it's not the company used to be. And what you're 0:11:46.679 --> 0:11:50.360 seeing our workers like me recognizing that and saying, hey, 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:52.760 can we help you get it back? Can we help 0:11:52.800 --> 0:11:54.719 you get your mission back on track? Can we help 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:56.760 you get back to the place you were when people 0:11:56.800 --> 0:12:01.240 were seeking Starbucks out because it was a better company. 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.840 And that's what I think I'd like people to realize. 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:07.760 We're not doing this because we hate Starbucks. We're doing 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.560 this because we recognize what the company used to be 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:13.600 and we want to get it back to that place. 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:15.320 We want to get it back on track. 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.760 You know, you mentioned greed, which is you know, the 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:24.120 kind of undertone of the demise of most companies right 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:27.600 when they divest from their employees as a way to 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:31.480 invest in their shareholders and their CEOs. And we see 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.720 this time and time again. It's nothing that is new. 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:40.560 I think that for a while in this country, unions 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:42.000 had been demonized. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:42.319 Right. 0:12:42.480 --> 0:12:45.680 The unions came out of a place because people were 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.400 dying in factories in the twentieth century, and they were 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.440 and child children were being employed as laborers, which many 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.120 in the South are trying to do again. And you 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.959 were seeing all of the ways in which workers were 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:04.320 being taken advantage of by these major companies and they 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:08.480 had no recourse. So the birth of unions, what right, 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:14.080 was to give workers the ability to collective bargain, to 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.719 be able to fight for conditions that were safe, that 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:23.880 were clean, and pay that allowed them to work with dignity. 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:25.760 And so I want you to be able to talk 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:32.600 to you know this kind of political divide with regard 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:36.160 to the purpose and the place of unions, because you know, 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:40.360 when I listened recently as Howard Schultz was was testifying, 0:13:42.160 --> 0:13:45.840 you would think that he was like a staunch Republican, 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.920 and I was like blown away by the way that 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:54.320 he was demonizing and saying that unions and unionizing is 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:56.720 the problem with business in America. So I want to 0:13:56.760 --> 0:13:58.679 get your response to that. 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.960 It's really quite fascinating because you would think that this 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.760 is something that would actually cross party lines. You know, 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.480 this is something that a lot of times when you're 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.439 looking at you know, unions, you know, let's say based 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:13.400 in the South or you know, somewhere in the Midwest 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:16.199 or Middle America, a lot of their workforce, I would say, 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.960 would fall to the side, you know, of the Republicans. 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.640 They would be you know, they kind of they're you know, 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.440 working class, and you know, you know, you got the 0:14:26.440 --> 0:14:29.680 American flag on their tailgate and next to their union strong. 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:32.040 I mean, it's it really should. 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.200 Cross party lines when you're dealing with worker rights and 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:36.960 you know, the overall workforce. 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:38.800 So it was interesting. 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.920 I was in the room during that testimony, and you 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.600 really would see, you know, you had the Democrats on 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.320 the committee asking some really tough questions. You know, why 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:49.160 are you treating your workers like this? Why are you 0:14:49.200 --> 0:14:52.160 firing union supporters, Why are you not coming to the 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:56.040 bargaining table and negotiating a fair contract? And you know, 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.120 they could have been a little tougher but there were 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:00.640 some good questions ask and then you had the Republicans 0:15:00.680 --> 0:15:04.560 on the committee kind of praising him for you know, 0:15:04.960 --> 0:15:07.320 and patting him on the back, and I'm and I'm like, 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.640 this can't possibly be what this man actually wants his 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.520 legacy to be. This can't you know, like Okay, the 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:18.160 general confusion of sitting in that room and seeing how 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:21.320 richolds who. You know, this is a man that right 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:25.520 after the twenty sixteen election addressed all of his workers 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:30.360 basically saying, listen, what happened yesterday is not what any 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:32.400 of us wanted. This is not the person we wanted 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.240 elected to run our country. And I want you to 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:36.560 know that. You know, as a company, we're going to 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.720 protect you. We're going to take care of you know, 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:41.640 our LGBTQ partners, we're going to take care of our 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:43.320 you know, we're going to make sure that, no matter 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.880 who's running the country, that this company takes care of you. 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.560 And I remember thinking, Wow, this is this is a 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.560 good company to work for. This is a man who 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:55.200 who is saying, doesn't matter what where the direction this 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:56.720 country is going, and we're going to make sure as 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:58.480 long as you work for this company that you're taking 0:15:58.560 --> 0:16:01.280 care of that is not the man I saw presenting 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:02.760 himself at this hearing. 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:04.720 Yeah, you know, just a few months ago, it. 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:09.240 Was just complete night and day. It is kind of 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.160 fascinating to see that there's any argument when it comes 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:15.880 to workers saying, hey, don't you think I should you know, 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:17.640 not have to fear for my life when I go 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:20.240 into to work every day. Don't you think I should 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:23.280 be able to work forty hours a week for any company, 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.600 but certainly for a company like Starbucks and be able 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.280 to pay my bills on that salary and have a 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:31.960 family on that salary, and you know, and the fact 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.120 that anyone can stand up and say no, you don't 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:34.720 deserve that. 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:35.280 You know. 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.800 Part of it is, I think this crazy mentality that 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:41.440 just exists in general in the service industry, but is 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:43.920 very very very pervasive in this country, which is that 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.600 these are jobs that don't deserve these things. You know, 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.120 if you find yourself working at McDonald's or working at 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.720 a Starbucks, you don't deserve respect, and you definitely don't 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.680 deserve fair wages, and you don't deserve safe working conditions 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.240 because you must have done something in your life that 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:01.040 landed you in this job. You know, and maybe you 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:03.360 should have done better, or maybe you should go out 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.600 and find something better. And what we're saying is why 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:10.800 why does any job come does Every job should come 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:14.320 with respect. Every worker should go into their place of employment, 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.800 no matter what it is, and feel like they are 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:23.080 worth something. And to hear people say you don't deserve 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:25.119 that because you know, you get up and put on 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.880 a green apron every day and make lattes, it's kind 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.680 of mind boggling to me because these are not starter jobs. 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:33.639 There are millions of workers in the service industry and 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.520 that's literally their income. That's how they make their living, 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:39.680 and that's how they take care of themselves and their families. 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:44.920 And it's insane to me that people just think those 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:49.280 workers are replaceable, you know, like a group of fifteen 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.359 year olds can't run any business, and nor should they 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.480 be expected to their children. There have to be seasoned 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:58.200 workers in there that are, you know, running that place 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:00.880 and taking people under their wing and training people. And 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:05.399 it's just it's really infuriating to you know, we're just 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:07.199 told to accept that this is what it is if 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:08.880 you happen to work in the service industry. 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:13.800 You know, what I think is really interesting too, because 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:17.360 I don't know if it is a sense of like 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:21.760 deep ignorance combined with the nostalgia, but I feel like 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:26.560 the pushback and particularly around raising the minimum wage, comes 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:31.960 from this belief that service jobs in particular, or low 0:18:32.160 --> 0:18:37.720 or lower wage jobs are ones that are held by kids, 0:18:37.920 --> 0:18:40.840 and so, oh, you're being supported by your parents and 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:45.040 this is just your side gig to go and buy 0:18:45.119 --> 0:18:47.840 an xbox or go and like, you know, hang out 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:50.919 with your friends and so in it. And I feel 0:18:50.920 --> 0:18:53.800 like I want to ask you, like, where did that 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:58.400 fantasy or that ignorance come from? Because even I will say, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.879 in my own family, I've had to shift some of 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:07.600 my family member's views on raising the minimum wage because 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:12.240 in our community, it was, you know, the summer job 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.320 was to go work at the grocery store. The summer 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:19.399 job was to go and work in retail for a 0:19:19.440 --> 0:19:21.679 couple of months and then you head to college or 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:24.000 you go back to high school or what have you. 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:28.120 And so they saw these young you know, these young 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:30.720 kids at one time or another in these positions, and 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:33.840 they're saying, well, why do they need fifteen dollars an hour? 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:36.720 They're living at home, they don't have any bills, right, 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:40.159 so can you can you burst that bubble for us 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:43.480 or tell us where, where and why it originated to 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:44.080 begin with. 0:19:44.320 --> 0:19:47.960 I mean, I don't know for certain, but my suspicion 0:19:48.080 --> 0:19:52.320 is that you know, these are places grocery stores and 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:56.000 food service places that there are some of the few 0:19:56.040 --> 0:20:00.360 places probably that will hire people who are just starting out, 0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:02.720 you know, who have never had a first job before, 0:20:02.760 --> 0:20:06.040 because there are aspects to those jobs, though those are 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:08.560 getting fewer and fewer and you know, more far right 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.040 right where you know, you can bring someone in who's 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:13.480 never you know, worked to cash register or something, and 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.080 you can train them to do that, you know, relatively 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:19.400 quickly and they can hold that position. But to assume 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.760 that these places are only made up of those people, 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.600 it just doesn't frankly, doesn't make any sense. I mean, 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.840 somebody has to be there to train these people. Somebody 0:20:28.880 --> 0:20:31.199 has to have been there long enough to you know, know, 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:33.360 where things are, be able to do inventory, be able 0:20:33.400 --> 0:20:35.919 to place orders, be able you know. So it's just 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:39.639 I think it's because there are places that allow people 0:20:39.680 --> 0:20:42.960 to start you know, their working life there. But that 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:45.600 doesn't mean that that place is solely made up of 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.840 fifteen and sixteen year olds. So that's the only thing 0:20:48.840 --> 0:20:50.480 that I can think is that maybe that's where it 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:52.760 come from. Yeah, those are you know, dairy queen or 0:20:52.840 --> 0:20:55.960 you know, those kind of starter jobs that people because 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:58.480 there's a way to get in there on the ground floor, 0:20:58.600 --> 0:21:00.560 and they'll they're willing to put in the training and 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.040 sometimes it's minimal, especially if it's something where they know 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:05.520 they're only going to have you for a few months. 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.720 But in a case like Starbucks, I mean the skill level, 0:21:09.840 --> 0:21:12.000 you could not just pull someone off the street and 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:14.159 stick them in a green apron behind that counter and 0:21:14.240 --> 0:21:18.200 expect things to run smoothly. It would be a massive disaster. 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:20.960 You know, you're you're aside from a safety issue, I mean, 0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:24.040 you're dealing with very hot liquid, you're dealing with all 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:26.480 sorts of machinery and all sorts of things that are 0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:28.480 constantly breaking down and have to be repaired. 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:30.400 So it's this whole sort. 0:21:30.240 --> 0:21:35.920 Of you know, unskilled labor, which is just an oxymoron. 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:38.840 There's no if there's no unskilled labor. You know, you 0:21:38.960 --> 0:21:41.080 have to have some level of skill to do every 0:21:41.119 --> 0:21:42.680 sort of job right. 0:21:43.520 --> 0:21:45.200 It has to be something out right. 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:50.040 So it's just it's very it's frustrating. And the other 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.320 flip side of that is, let's just say that, you know, 0:21:53.640 --> 0:21:56.280 some place is able to function with the workforce between 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:57.600 the ages of fifteen and eighteen. 0:21:57.720 --> 0:21:59.120 Let's just say that that exists. 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:03.840 Do those workers not deserve fair wages and not deserve 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:07.480 safe working conditions because they fall within a certain age bracket? 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:10.080 I mean, you want your children going into work for 0:22:10.119 --> 0:22:12.720 a place that doesn't care about their safety and doesn't 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.560 value their labor. So I mean, there's really there's no 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:18.639 good argument for any of that, you know, it does. 0:22:18.760 --> 0:22:22.560 I mean, there were high school kids at the Elmwood location, 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.240 you know, the first location to unionize. There was a 0:22:25.240 --> 0:22:27.399 couple of high school kids who were there. Now, I 0:22:27.440 --> 0:22:30.920