Why We Think Tim's are Bullies

Since the Ontario government raised minimum wage to $14.00, select Tim Horton's franchises appear to be frustrated, and they seem to be taking their frustration out on their employees.  Some of us have even suggested that select Tim's franchises are bullying their employees.  Others are outraged at any suggestion that their all Canadian institution could be accused of being a bully.  There are a number of reasons that many think Tim's are bullies.

The minimum wage increase applies to all employees in the province of Ontario, not just Tim Horton's.  That means that all employers would be affected.  We have heard from some small businesses, particularly family farms, or employers employing less than 10 workers.  Select Tim's franchises are the only big corporation that are complaining about the increase.  \Plus, we know that government never does anything overnight.   Select Tim's franchises had time to prepare for this, the same as other employers.  It was not a surprise that this was going to happen.  Other employers seemed to plan how they were going to incorporate this into their budgets.  Select Tim's franchises seemed to have planned how they were going to recover this money from their employees.  No one thinks that their moves to eliminate breaks, cut benefits such as free coffee, and make employees pay for their uniforms was something that was a knee-jerk reaction.  This was a planned maneuver.  This was an effort to bully the employees.  One of the select franchise owner who implemented these changes was vacationing in Palm Beach, so these memos and actions were planned.  Just a heads up for them, the Ontario government is going to raise the minimum wage to $15.00 by this time next year.  You should probably start planning now.

Notice how I am saying select Tim's franchise owners.  That is because the corporate Tim's is distancing themselves from these franchise owners.  They are claiming not to be part of this.  Don't be fooled by this.  It may be down by now, but look online at the franchise application.  If you franchise with another company, you are probably going to pay that company about 10% of your gross sales as a royalty fee.  With Tim Horton's, it is close to 20%.  But, with Tim's, it is basically disguised as the franchise fee is divided and it is 2% for this and 3% for that, but it adds up to about 20%, probably double any other corporation.  So, if you buy a coffee and bagel for $5.00, $1.00 is going directly to Tim's corporate.  If you think a corporation that is that highly involved with their franchise owner is not behind every decision that is made, then you are probably one of the people defending poor Tim's online.  If the new minimum wage was so onerous to the franchise owners, Tim's could easily just release one per cent of their royalty fees.  But, Tim's won't do that, because they value corporate greed.

When Tim's corporation was distancing themselves from select franchise owners, the owners indicated that they had no choice but to strip their employees benefits.  They said they wanted to raise prices but Tim's corporation wouldn't let them.  Yet, quietly and without any announcement, some Tim's locations in Ontario raised prices on select breakfast items.  So, which is it?  You can make a decision to raise prices or all decisions are made out of Tim's corporate office? When a company can't even get their story straight and are talking out of both sides of their mouth, it is because they have no respect for the public and are clearly bullying us.

CBC news interviewed a team leader who had put in her notice about 9 years of service.  She didn't want to work in that environment any more with all the cuts to benefits.  It was interesting, though, because she spoke under the condition that her voice and appearance would be modified because she was afraid of repercussions.  Although her voice and appearance were modified, her shoes and legs were shown to prove that she was an actual person.  She was a young thin white woman.  She had been there 9 years and was still making minimum wage.  If you have an employee who has supervisory responsibility and is still making minimum wage after 9 years, you are clearly not valuing your employees.  Plus, what repercussions could she possibly be afraid of?  She had already put in her notice, yet she was afraid to speak publicly.  That speaks to a workplace environment of fear and bullying.

I have read conflicting reviews about how much a franchise owner nets/year.  One estimate said $260,000 a year and another estimated $325,000.  Even if they are both wrong and a franchise owner makes a measly $250,000 a year, that is still a great deal of money for not doing that much.  This means that a franchise owner whose education may only consist of what they learn at Tim Horton's makes as much as some surgeons.  One thing that we learn about people who have an easy track to a large amount of money, they feel entitled.  Money comes more than a thing that they use to buy goods and services.  Money becomes an instrument to exert power and control.  Even though they are making more money than they should, they still live above their means to display to others how much they make.  They simply can't live with less money and they start to bully those who don't have as much money.  The corporate value of greed becomes very much ingrained in their psyche.

Some people refuse to believe that Tim's is bullying their employees because they can't believe a Canadian institution could do that.   Again, wake up and smell the coffee.  Tim's has not been Canadian for over two decades.  Yet, most of their advertising is designed to manipulate us to think that if we don't get our coffee from Tim's that we are not being good Canadians.

Let's also speak of their manipulative marketing.  I had difficulty sleeping this week and also had a lingering cold.  I probably made a poor life choice, but I watched a lot of television.  Morning, day time, evening prime time, and during the night.  I made an observation.  It didn't matter when I was watching tv, but I never watched a single show at any time without seeing a commercial for Tim Horton's.  They do an incredible amount of advertising.  During prime time, I often saw two different commercials for Tim Horton's in one hour.  One of items that franchises pay in royalty fees, is about 3% for marketing.  If Tim's really wanted to help out their franchises absorb the increase costs of the minimum wage, they could drop this by a percentage and have a few less commercials.  Corporate Tim's does not actually want to do this easy step.  They won't do anything that may reduce their profits.  That value trickles down to their franchise owners.

So, there is a reason why many of us think that Tim Horton's are just a bunch of bullies.  That reason is because it is true.