Guess what the starting pay is at Starbucks?!

If you are a talented barista in Australia or New Zealand you will be paid 20usd +. Granted I wouldn't call a Starbucks coffee maker a barista.

I don't follow the argument that $10.50 an hour is bad pay. To those that see it this way, are you aware of the going starting rate in retail? The diff. between $8.50 and $10.50 might be $3K-$4K a year. That's enormous when you're just starting out and broke AF.

They pay is above avg for what is still considered a fast food employee. A few others have commented on this point already but the advancement within Starbucks is reasonably high which is why their turnover is the lowest in their industry by a wide margin. There are also several benefits that even part time employees are offered such as health care, college tuition and stock options. Sometimes you have to look beyond the pay at any job and see what the tangible or better yet intangible (such as work environment etc) are.

I'd pay double to be lectured about race relations and gay marriage by a 17 year old suburban white boy while waiting for my $8.00 Venti half-caff-caramel macchiato on ice! What else are you gonna talk about?

$8.40 + tips is really not that bad for a barista to start at. I worked at an independent coffee shop in the NE during my first year of graduate school to make a little "walking around money". I started at $8.50 with a $0.50 raise when I passed our barista exam, which consisted of general coffee knowledge, ability to make espresso based drinks to specification, and knowledge about our shop/values/etc. After a year another $1.00 raise.

To those who believe it is "just making coffee", you do not have any idea of the intricacies of a good cup. Like wine, craft beer, bourbon, what have you, it is a delicate art to create a really quality cup of coffee or a specialty drink. First the beans must be of highest quality, roasted to a very particular temp and time to bring out the best flavors. Then, for espresso in particular, every ounce of pulled espresso requires specific amounts of dry freshly ground beans (we used 20 g/ 2oz shot) brewed with 200-210F water for a very specific range of time. For our beans we did 25-30 sec with 25 being a little short and 30 a little long, but some people like that. 27-28 always brought a very clean, vibrant taste. If you move into the milk aspect, each drink requires a specific temp and consistency for the milk to layer properly.

I, personally, don't count Starbucks as quality though I do drink it occasionally. It is better than Dunkin by far, but doesn't have the coffee quality of a good independent shop.

Jillian Barbrerie wrote:

Come to my house for an afternoon, and you will use condoms.

what

Workers have been very active in their push for $15 an hour. It is not just workers at McDonald's but any worker under this amount. On April 15, fast food workers, child care providers, homecare workers, airport security, college adjuncts, among others, will be out demanding $15/hour or $15k a course total compensation for adjuncts. The narrative is the same for each employer in each industry. People at the top hold all of the wealth and continue to profit while front line workers are stuck making minimum wage which is not enough to live off of. Say what you want about the skills needed to work minimum wage jobs but most would be surprised to hear about the working conditions those workers face trying to provide for their families. It is time to pick those people up instead of subsidizing the large corporations who can pay their workers so taxpayer money does not have to.

Ex: Fast Food

Average Age- 29 (not just teenagers making a few dollars)

Median Wage- $8.69

Cost for public assistance- almost $7 billion

Workers are rallying in over 200 cities this coming Wednesday to call attention to these issues. I found an event near me and will join with thousands in my area to bring some power back to the middle class.

Fightfor15 wrote:

while front line workers are stuck making minimum wage which is not enough to live off of.

Yes look at all the minimum wage workers dying in the streets! Especially the ones not on welfare!

Yes look at all the minimum wage workers dying in the streets! Especially the ones not on welfare![/quote]

Great, I understand if you're politically opposed and think that low wage workers do not do meaningful work and should not be paid decent wages. Just do me a favor and check your privilege. Check the opportunities you have that others do not. Consider that many workers in the industries being talked about do not receive benefits at work. Their total income is comprised of what they make from their minimum wage jobs. When the cost of living continues to go up- housing, food, etc etc, minimum workers are dying on the streets. You got that right. Many end up not able to pay rent or to provide basic necessities for their families.

http://www.npr.org/2013/09/22/224946206/adjunct-professor-dies-destitute-then-sparks-debate

(oh and here's an article about an adjunct professor who died in old age in the street, had cancer, high medical bills and no health insurance, oh and I hear if you use the Google, countless other stories can be found of low wage workers losing their homes because of their low wages)

You can get a minimum wage job at starbucks and they will pay for your undergrad or masters degree....but I know, they're coffee is burnt.

Fightfor15 wrote:

... minimum wage which is not enough to live off of.

Please explain how they have managed to live and survive thus far then? I just witnessed a few employees going to their minimum wage job this morning, and now they are finished with their shifts still alive. Explain that.

Why should more money come from the corporations? Why should it come from taxpayers? Why is one better than the other? Why don't you donate your own money to minimum wage workers instead?

[quote]Fightfor15 wrote:

Just do me a favor and check your privilege. quote]

Bite me and my privilege, libtard.

coffeeaddict wrote:

To those who believe it is "just making coffee", you do not have any idea of the intricacies of a good cup. Like wine, craft beer, bourbon, what have you, it is a delicate art to create a really quality cup of coffee or a specialty drink. First the beans must be of highest quality, roasted to a very particular temp and time to bring out the best flavors. Then, for espresso in particular, every ounce of pulled espresso requires specific amounts of dry freshly ground beans (we used 20 g/ 2oz shot) brewed with 200-210F water for a very specific range of time. For our beans we did 25-30 sec with 25 being a little short and 30 a little long, but some people like that. 27-28 always brought a very clean, vibrant taste.

I can believe all of this, but why on earth have the big chains not computerised and industrialised this, so that the beans are always roasted exactly right, and you press a button and it brews at exactly the right temperature and duration? How can a human do a better job than an automatic machine? Does every batch of beans taste and behave differently, and if so, are the baristas good enough to bring out the best?

I genuinely would like to know.

They will. The whole process of making coffee has already been automated.

Most barista jobs won't exist in 20 years.

Plus a 401K and health insurance, unlike McDonalds.

Minimum/low paying jobs are not meant to be career jobs or support a family. They should be used as a stepping stone to climb the ladder or gain experience and move up or on. If someone doesn't like their low wage they need to better their skill set so they can get another job that pays better. It's the rise of minimum wage that hurts the middle class. As a middle class business owner every time the minimum wage goes up my cost of business goes up yet I don't make more. How does raising the minimum wage help middle class business owners which are the backbone of America?

eurodonkey wrote:

I can believe all of this, but why on earth have the big chains not computerised and industrialised this, so that the beans are always roasted exactly right, and you press a button and it brews at exactly the right temperature and duration? How can a human do a better job than an automatic machine? Does every batch of beans taste and behave differently, and if so, are the baristas good enough to bring out the best?

I genuinely would like to know.

Because humans want human interaction. And because your taste buds are strongly influenced by the social setting. And most of all because hipsters who got Starbucks going back in the day wouldn't feel good about it.

They tried automated service in the 1950s. It didn't take off.

http://www.underthepier.com/images/19_US-coinop-restaurantWEB.jpg

Half Fool wrote:

Minimum/low paying jobs are not meant to be career jobs or support a family. They should be used as a stepping stone to climb the ladder or gain experience and move up or on. If someone doesn't like their low wage they need to better their skill set so they can get another job that pays better. It's the rise of minimum wage that hurts the middle class. As a middle class business owner every time the minimum wage goes up my cost of business goes up yet I don't make more. How does raising the minimum wage help middle class business owners which are the backbone of America?

Agreed to some extent, but the backbone of America is the middle class not just the self-employed middle class. And the middle class got smashed over the last two decades when manufacturing was off-shored without even the minimum policies or regulations to keep some of those jobs here or limit the incentive for employers to change business models. Policy makers could expand tax credits like the Earned Income Credit or the child tax credit to aid those that are working like mad for longer hours yet making less than they did 15yrs ago. They won't do this because it will mean an increase in deficits or closing tax deductions elsewhere which is a no-go. The alternative is to lift the minimum wage which can be done at the municipal and state level and bypass Congress entirely. If you had a lobbyist like the tax guys you could argue for a small employer carve out. Life isn't fair nor is it static. Gotta make adjustments.