‘He won’t take any more’: South Korean Starbucks barista rebels | Labor Rights

Seoul, South Korea – On weekday evenings, Starbucks in the southern Yangjae district of Seoul grows up with office staff looking for refreshments for lunch.

The collar workers form a line from the counter to the changing glass doors of the store to order hot and cold drinks. Seasonal specials include Lavender Beige Oat Lattea with corn leaves and New Year’s Citrus Tea garnished with lemon grass and a slice of orange.

“After we leave, we come with our colleagues because we know that everyone can find something they like,” said Yoon Min-ju, who works for an interior design company near Al Jazeera.

“In smaller cafes, they usually only have basic coffee and tea. At Starbucks, even those who don’t like coffee or are on a diet can comfortably order it, ”he said.

Starbucks is so popular in South Korea that it seems like there is a store on almost every block. The country is the fourth largest market at Starbucks, with 1,611 stores and nearly 20,000 employees, which the company calls a “partner”.

But despite its brand popularity – built on its extensive menu, paired with the American middle class and branded merchandise – the coffee giant is facing the challenge of its South Korean image as an analysis of the working conditions in its stores. The way employees respond can predict an evolution of work activism a country with a history of heavy protests.

In October, when the company held an event offering reusable glasses along with the purchase of a drink, the fatigue and frustration of the baristas increased.

On Blind, an application to spread anonymously about workers ’working conditions, workers complained about low wages and poor conditions. Some told horror stories of having 650 drinks on demand at the same time, flowing through the endless stream of customers, mixing and serving them without making a mistake, while keeping them smiling and caring for the customer.

In December, left-wing politician Ryu Ho-jeong released the results of a survey of 613 Starbucks employees seeking mental health treatment in 2020 due to work stress, which was five times higher than in 2015. he saw work-related accidents triple by the previous year.

To draw attention to their plight, staff rented a flat-bed truck from a huge light-screen drive downtown Seoul to the crowded Gangnam area south of the city, and forwarded their grievances to crowded customers gathering at Starbucks locations across the city. lunch. The text of the company appeared on the screen, including “Partners’ are your biggest assets. Don’t forget that” and “We won’t take any more”.

The protests had national headlines, and Starbucks managed to get concessions from Korea, which would hire 1,600 more workers to ease the conditions in its stores. The company promised to introduce salary increases based on seniority and performance at a time when coffee was introduced in South Korea in 1999.

While Starbucks staff were struggling, supporters of the South Korean labor organization noted that a group of young service industry workers were able to gain material attention and material benefits.

The Confederation of Korean Trade Unions, a leading umbrella group with more than a million members in industries across the country, welcomed the actions of Starbucks employees and encouraged them to work to form a union.

“By setting up a labor union, workers can address their grievances,” the KCTU said in a statement.

Starbucks protesters, mostly in their 20s and 30s, shifted their invitation to unionize to the left, saying instead of working in collective bargaining with Starbucks management, they could communicate their needs more effectively through innovative tactics such as truck protests.

In South Korea, labor unions have been in shipyards and factories for decades, but in recent years unionization efforts have been made in some of the country’s most innovative companies, including cocoa and Naver technology titans.

‘Militant fight’

Yu Gyu-chang, a professor of human resource management at Hanyang University, told Al Jazeera that South Korea’s work culture is concerned with the well-being of its workers.

“Social pressure is increasing along with the voice of millennials and the Z generation,” Yu said.

Increasing the organization of work comes at a time when inequality in South Korean public discourse is the main issue. pop culture phenomenon Squid Game, as many in the country are looking for ways to earn a stable living in an increasingly drunken economy.

According to data released by the Ministry of Labor in December, the unionization rate in South Korea rose to 14.2% in 2020, from 12.5% ​​in the previous year.

“Many young people want to work in companies that have unions because they recognize that unions can provide support and help them get the benefits they want,” Chung-Ang University labor relations expert Lee Byoung-hoon told Al Jazeera.

“What they don’t like is the old style of Korean trade union activism, militant struggle, struggle and protest.”

Ryu, a politician, said in a statement that his poll showed that the conditions for Starbucks employees still need to be improved.

“It will inevitably be a protest from the second and third trucks,” he said.

Although their victory is incomplete, the ways in which Starbucks employees have taken the lead – and the country – may have seen an evolution in South Korean labor organization, far removed from the old protests and the search for new ways for workers to communicate. requirements.

“It’s more important for the younger generation’s protests than the number of successes, failures, or attention spans, that they don’t want to present their arguments or intentions a little wrong,” said Lim Myung-ho, a professor. psychology at Dankook University.

“They are confident that they can get their opinion without outside help,” Lim said. “There will be more cases like Starbucks.”