Starbucks Happy Hours have become a well-known promotional event in the past few years for the company. Every few weeks from 2p-7p, customers can treat themselves with various offers that typically include getting a free drink or a drink at a discounted price. While these help boost store sales, they also put customers and Starbucks employees (partners) in danger during the COVID-19 pandemic. Starbucks relaunched Happy Hour on June 18th of this year when COVID-19 cases are beginning to increase again across the country. As a fellow barista who worked Happy Hour on June 18th, I encountered hundreds of customers in the Drive-Thru and inside of our cafe who were not wearing masks, not social distancing, and going in and out of our restrooms constantly. With recent labor cuts due to the COVID-19 crisis, we as baristas don’t have the opportunity to wash our hands frequently or sanitize the cafe during these few hours of extreme business influx. In many stores, cafe’s went hours without being sanitized due to the high volume of customers and low levels of staffing. Furthermore, Happy Hour is now being implemented again while hazard pay for all Starbucks partners has ended, even though the risk of contracting COVID-19 has not gone away and has even increased. We love our customers and communities but a global pandemic is not the time to be driving hundreds of extra customers to Starbucks stores to drive up profit and put your own customers and partners at risk. We as Starbucks partners insist that Happy Hour be cancelled for the remainder of 2020 across all US Starbucks locations and potentially delayed even longer into 2021 depending on the state of the pandemic within the U.S. Other promotional offers can be provided to Starbucks customers without the need to drive a huge amount of customers into stores at one specific time. Right now, partner and customer safety needs to be the top priority, not BOGO Frappuccino's and caramel macchiatos.

In addition to the pay increase period coming to an end, partner hours have recently been reduced. Many employees have had to resort to filing for partial unemployment to meet financial needs. Until conditions have returned to the pre-pandemic status that we were accustomed to, employees should be granted an hourly pay increase that would effectively provide financial stability.

Starbucks admits to being "committed to caring for the health and well-being of [their] partners," yet is failing to do so by removing the premium pay. This pandemic is not over.

We're facing unexpected challenges and risks by working in long-term care during this pandemic. We do our jobs to make sure our residents receive the best possible care, and we want to make sure we're safe and cared for in the process.

Lots of store’s hours are still reduced, and many partners can’t get the hours that they need to pay bills and live their lives. Partners cannot enforce that customers wear masks, and don’t know if they have been following proper health and safety protocol. Due to this fact, partners are risking their health and safety to serve coffee.

Because of their classification of us, we do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits. We're not given the same benefits, we're not given the same paid time off, we're not even allowed in the union - at least not the way my district negotiated ESS's contract, I can imagine this is true elsewhere. It's ludicrous that I could work alongside district hired employees who have Union representatives to be their voice & hold the school accountable during this very uncertain time. Subcontracting teacher's aides, especially special education ones, like me, is bad for students, staff & the reputation of the school. It also entirely disenfranchises aspiring educators, like myself, who took a permanent position with a school to fund my way to teacher certification. Now, why would I even bother....? I'm sure many are in my position & that needs to change now for the future of education. Forbes named them a best largest employer for 3 years in a row, at the very least that needs to stop.

Why are we making these requests? We all care deeply about Tazza d’Oro and the people that we serve, but we cannot continue to work if it is unsafe and our basic needs aren’t met (ie. health insurance and clear status’ of pay). We want to continue to work at Tazza d’Oro, but we want it to be a better work environment, one that is safe for ourselves and customers. Many of these requests were in front of mind prior to COVID19, but the pandemic has made their need even clearer. Again - we love our jobs. We would like to return. We just request that we are treated with transparency from management and dignity, as we the baristas provide the efficacy and sustainability of the company.

We have dedicated ourselves to growing and sustaining Crazy Mocha because we believe in the value it brings to Pittsburgh’s communities. Many of us have worked for years to serve our customers with a high standard of customer service and care. We are valuable members of the business and should be treated as such. Instead, we have been ignored and treated as if we were of no importance to Crazy Mocha whatsoever. We haven't heard anything from the Company since March 26. Any information we've gathered has been from public news reports and social media. Our personal appeals for information are disregarded. Our comments are deleted from social media posts. We've already reached out to the Corporate team who is still working and received total radio silence. Even before this pandemic, when we've reached out to HR in the past, we've been told our concerns are invalid and to stop contacting them about our issues. Many of us have been manipulated by the company: we've been falsely promised benefits for which we weren't actually eligible, we've been told we'd make a higher wage for a shift and never paid that rate, we've been lied to about the nature of regular raises. We've had safety and security issues in stores and been told to just call 911. We have felt extremely disrespected and dehumanized, as if we're completely replaceable. We are a big reason that regular customers keep coming back and, first and foremost, would like this fact to be acknowledged. We look forward to being able to return to our jobs. We care enough that we would like to see changes so that we can continue to provide an excellent product and exceptional service like we always have. We just ask that our concerns are taken seriously and with heart.

Workers are at risk of becoming infected with the virus from their coworkers.

As of May 4th, 85% of US Starbucks stores have re-opened up for operations after many stores were closed for part of March and April. Currently, most of these stores are operating by using only their Drive-Thru's, continuing delivery services, or allowing customers to pick up mobile orders at the front door. Starbucks plans to transition many stores out of this model through the next few weeks and into the beginning of June. Starbucks plans to implement more grab-and-go services in stores where customers can come into the cafe to order their drinks or pickup their mobile order inside the store. While most locations will not allow seating to be open, restrooms will be accessible in some stores and social distancing will likely be difficult to maintain in a fast-paced environment like Starbucks. While all of us want things to get back to normal, it is not necessary and is irresponsible for Starbucks to reopen cafe's as the country continues to see high amounts of cases of COVID-19 with some states even seeing a spike in new cases. While many local and state governments have allowed for businesses to reopen, we believe that Starbucks should act responsibly during this time to keep store cafe's closed until the COVID-19 pandemic is better under control and more widespread testing is available. As a fellow Starbucks employee (partner), I believe it is nearly impossible for us to not be exposed if customers come into our cafe's. Many stores have not received enough plastic shields to protect themselves from customers that may potentially be infected and it will be challenging to implement social distancing in stores that are high volume. Furthermore, Starbucks is not requiring customers to wear a mask which could endanger both partners and other customers inside the cafe. Stores do their best to constantly clean surfaces and high-touch areas but this can often be missed during the busiest times of the day. All it takes is one customer that is infected to spread the virus to others that come after them. Starbucks should continue to keep cafe's closed through the the remainder of May and the month of June at minimum. If necessary, Starbucks should keep cafe's closed even longer if the US continues to not see a steady decline in COVID-19 cases. As partners, we love our stores and our communities and we can't wait to see our customers in store again. However, Starbucks needs to prioritize the safety of both customers and partners during these challenging times.

Because we put our lives on frontline...during this Pandemic ...

This is important because i had never missed a day or been late and i feel like i am being mistreated