Starbucks' Employees Speak Out

Starbucks' continued support of the abusive and cruel rodeo industry is alienating not only its compassionate consumer base but many of the company's own employees. As the Tiger Truck travels from city to city showing rodeo footage, employess from local stores have come out to voice words of support for SHARK's work and disgust with Starbucks' position on abusing animals.

Most of the time these 'partners' (as they are named by Starbucks) are only able to offer a thumbs up or a few encouraging words, for fear of job security. Some Starbucks' employees make the extra effort of contacting the company with their opinion, only to be shut down. SHARK is hearing more and more from Starbucks' own people and one has to wonder why Starbucks would allow this issue to continue when it is having an effect on both its customers and employees.

Below are just a few of the comments SHARK has received. We have withheld the employees' names.

The following was written by a former Starbucks employee who worked at a Starbucks store in Illinois where the Tiger Truck made an appearance. Starbucks seems to believe that it is invincible, but when it loses good people like this, it is in the long term practically committing suicide.

I started working part time in Schaumburg when I was seventeen and they were a very different company back then. The current age of Starbucks is one that is riddled with politics and managers (at the corporate and store level) that would never challenge the status quo and protect their company with almost religious zeal ("Starbucks could not possibly do any wrong"). Gone are the days when Starbucks used to be a traditional coffee shop where intellectual ideas were discussed and debated. Today, an employee of Starbucks is not allowed to engage in any conversation that would be considered by anyone as "controversial". They are expected to be devoid of opinion on politics, economics, religion, and even world events. In fact, even while your van [SHARK's Tiger Truck] was parked out front and customers asked about it, I was told to try and talk as little as possible about it (being someone graduating college in a bit and getting a full time job soon, this demand was promptly ignored. Why would my manager want me to talk as little as possible about anything? And if you (SHARK) are correct, why are we working for a company that supports something like this, when so easily they could stop it and have very little effect on their bottom line? The company has possibly digressed to such a level that even such questions were bad to ask.

More Starbucks 'Partners' write:

I am so saddened by the sponsorship of the rodeo, and if I didn't need the insurance so bad I would have left by now. I would love for you to come visit the store I work at. I am finding it very hard to work for this company. Thank you again for everything you do.

unbelievable! And I am an employee of the company, they did donate 1m to the african wildlife refuge in 2004, and I was so happy, yet this happens. They do do alot for the poor, children, trees, environment, animals, as I see the insider stuff, but I am wondering now, if this is all made up, because I don't see they have credibility anymore, now that they conveniently changed their story to say the indian thing, just to back their ass up to fall under the corporate social responsibility thing. I am glad you told me below as well, because this is a real eye opener also, that they changed the story. As far as I know,since when did native american indians ever do rodeos? I thought that was a "cowboy" thing."

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