It\u2019s a Red Cup Rebellion! Unions strike back at Starbucks while coffee\u2019s commodity price is falling\u2014but news outlets continue to focus on consumers rather than farmers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arabica coffee futures have fallen roughly 35% since August, after a year or so of record highs<\/a>. This volatility massively impacts coffee producers, as the C price is still the basis<\/a> upon which almost all coffee is traded. Sudden changes can wreak<\/a> havoc on long-term planning and farm management, especially because coffee is bought and sold sometimes months or years in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reasons behind the drop in the C price are complicated: coffee is a global industry built upon a fragile, weather-dependent plant and interconnected with myriad other tendrils of international trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, a strong dollar can negatively affect the price because \u201cwhen the dollar goes up, everything measured in dollars, like international coffee prices, tend to go down,\u201d a Rabobank analyst told CNN<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The other major reasons for the falling price are the easing of supply chain issues<\/a> and the better-than-expected weather in Brazil, which has led to predictions<\/a> of a bumper coffee harvest next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But nevermind all that: how will lower prices affect the cost of my cup of joe??<\/p>\n\n\n\n These<\/a> sorts of alarmist<\/a> \u201cprice rise\u201d headlines<\/a> have been<\/a> ubiquitous<\/a> for years<\/a>, as news outlets unsurprisingly frame stories around the consumer. So many of these reports completely ignore the realities of the coffee producers<\/a>, instead mostly turning to bank analysts and coffee company CEOs for quotes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And in the end, what it means for your morning coffee is\u2026 not much. Consumer coffee prices won\u2019t come down in parallel with the commodity crash because big chains have no reason to lower them<\/a>, while small companies are still struggling<\/a> with other burdens such as increased<\/a> product, shipping, and labor costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday, thousands of Starbucks workers staged the \u201cRed Cup Rebellion,\u201d a coordinated nationwide strike in response to what Starbucks Workers United called the company\u2019s \u201cunion-busting tactics and refusal to bargain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Red Cup Day is Starbucks\u2019 busiest of the year, when the company gives out reusable cups to customers who buy one of its holiday-themed drinks. It is very <\/em>popular<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s also awful for workers, with one barista recounting leaving work with bruises from all the running around. That barista described Red Cup Day to VICE <\/em>as \u201cmentally and physically abusive,\u201d while on the Starbucks Reddit, workers call Red Cup Day \u201cabsolutely unbearable\u201d and \u201cthe worst day of your year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strike action was launched in response to the breakdown in several collective bargaining sessions last month, with Starbucks refusing to participate,<\/a> citing objections with union organizers joining bargaining meetings via Zoom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou cannot be pro-LGTBQ, pro-BLM, pro-sustainability, and anti-union,\u201d union organizer Michelle Eisen said in a statement. \u201cThis Red Cup Day, we\u2019re organizing for a voice on the job and a true seat at the table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The strike action comes as the National Labor Relations Board sues in federal court<\/a> for an injunction prohibiting Starbucks from firing or disciplining employees who engage in union activity across the US. The union claims more than 150<\/a> pro-union workers have been fired for organizing, a charge that Starbucks has repeatedly denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Coffee Science Foundation Announces New Cold Brew Extraction Research\u2019<\/a> – via Global Coffee Report<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018AMT Coffee Facing Administration Following Covid-19 Losses\u2019<\/a> – via World Coffee Portal<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Nominations Are Now Open For The 2022 Sprudgie Awards\u2019<\/a> – via Sprudge<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018ICO Releases Flagship Annual Report, Urges Youth Participation in Coffee\u2019<\/a> – via Daily Coffee News<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Umeshiso And Cafe C\u00e0 Ph\u00ea Team Up For A HoliGays Party And Vendor Fair\u2019<\/a> – via Sprudge<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As Starbucks workers went on strike in the US, over in the United Kingdom, a leading hospitality union launched a campaign<\/a> to highlight the issues of pay and staffing at the country\u2019s biggest coffee chains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Campaigners from Unite<\/a>, the second largest union in the UK, visited several outlets of Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Caff\u00e9 Nero, and Pret A Manger to speak with workers and highlight the problems they face in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor too long baristas and caf\u00e9 workers have suffered from some of the lowest pay and most insecure contracts in the British economy,\u201d Bryan Simpson, Unite\u2019s Lead Organizer for Hospitality, said. \u201cOur campaign aims to change that. By bringing together workers from across the coffee sector\u2019s Big Four, we will develop organizing strategies that seek to drive up standards across the sector.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drinking both coffee and tea (but not at the same time, probably) could lower your risk of death, according to a new study from the School of Public Health at Tianjin Medical University, China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Published in the journal BMC Medicine<\/em><\/a>, the study looked at nearly half a million participants from the medical database UK Biobank and assessed their coffee and tea consumption using a self-reported questionnaire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a follow-up period of 15 years, the researchers found that, compared with those who drank neither, those who consumed 1-2 cups of coffee and <\/em>2-4 cups of tea per day had a 22% lower mortality risk. Drinking both also lower risks for cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and digestive disease mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Discussing possible reasons, the authors hypothesize that coffee and tea\u2019s \u201coverlapping bioactive components,\u201d such as caffeine and chlorogenic acid, could play a role, but further study is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Coffee is a Game of Telephone\u2019 by Ashley Rodriguez<\/a>\u2018The \u2018Red Cup Rebellion\u2019 Is Here as Starbucks Workers Launch Massive Strike\u2019 – via <\/strong>VICE News<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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