Maybe it should be called Starbugs?

by Sarah J. Gim, Posted Aug 18th 2006 @ 11:31AM

star...bugs? Well, my biggest complaint has been that thier coffee tastes like it's been brewed on the surface of the sun, but according to some current and former employees of Starbucks, many of the New York outposts of the coffee chain suffer chronic infestations of vermin. The employees filed a Federal complaint this week, but the Starbucks company has denied the allegations.

There are 201 Starbucks locations in New York. Forty-four of them have received notices of violation from the Department of Health, and three in particular, Union Square East, E. Ninth St. and Second Ave., and E. 57th St. and Lexington Ave are the focus of the complaints filed by the employees.

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Filed Under: Health & Medical, Drink Recipes, Chefs & Restaurants, Coffee Shops, Restaurants
Tags: america, coffee, east coast, new york, new york city, NYC, starbucks, starbucks coffee

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-18-2006 @1:01PM MJ said... They should close down the stores with teh problem and get that fixed that is a serious health concern for the public. But you swould be surprised at the places that are open that have similar problems, its a disgrace.I do not eat out much anymore! To get clean silverware is a miracle in its self............Mkes you wonder about other things. If they dont keep their bathrooms clean imagaine whats going on in the back kitchen. I always check there sanitaion score. But now I dont think you can go by that .........

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8-18-2006 @1:07PM cybele said... I've always thought Starbucks tasted like brewed pencil shavings.
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8-18-2006 @2:00PM Johnny H said... I used to work at a bagel shop, in high school, that was next door to a Starbucks. Funny how some people would come to us just to buy coffee and leave without any bagels.
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8-18-2006 @2:38PM Mike said... Hmm... probably no connection at all to Starbuck's reluctance to deal with a local labor union. (not mentioned at all in the summary above) The lawsuit is being filed by the employees of the stores. (Who you'd think would be partially resonsible for keeping the places clean)

"The root of the problem is that we're never staffed properly to clean the place right..." Their solution is probably to have 2 union baristas, 1 union cashier and 1 union janitor on hand at all times. The baristas will be prohibited from wiping off anything below the level of the drip tray and anyone asking them to do so will be reported to the union as a contract violation.
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8-19-2006 @2:14AM Mark said... I think Mike is right -- this smells like another IU 660 union organizing "action." Funny how all these outre Starbucks news items come out of New York.

Since the mainstream media has been ignoring them, I guess the IWW decided to actually progress to lawsuits to qualify as real news (well, New York Daily News-level "real news" at least).

I'd like to know how long the employee plaintiffs had worked at Starbucks, and what their background is.
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