My name is Adelaide Smith and I am a former barista and coffee equipment technician at Enrico’s Tazza D’Oro. I started working as a barista at the Highland Park location in April 2017 and have been with the company as it expanded from two cafes, to four cafes and a training lab. When I first started, it was clear that the management structure was somewhat disorganized and not totally functional, but as the new cafes opened, the situation became much worse. Stores have gone months at a time with no manager, so managing responsibilities were piled onto assistant manager and barista workloads. This resulted in day to day operations becoming increasingly stressful for baristas. When that trickled into bad experiences for customers, upper management would show up to hassle the staff about their performance and general attitude, leaving no opportunities for productive discourse. In the context of this managerial chaos, myself and other women consistently received lower scores on job evaluations compared to our few male coworkers, despite working for a company owned by a progressive woman. As a direct result of this disparity, men became eligible for higher raises then women at the barista level. This is a great example of how a well-intentioned feminist can perpetuate gender-based wage disparities in the workplace by failing to implement systems and structures that insure just and equitable working conditions. I don’t believe the owner wants gender-based discrimination to be happening anywhere, but the current structure of her own business makes the issue difficult to address. The owner, Amy Enrico, has a history of retaliating against workers who speak out. In one such instance, where two baristas were fired after bringing up concerns at a staff meeting, the National Labor Relations Board was prepared to back the workers in a federal suit, though Tazza and the employees settled out of court. Throughout the various locations staff have been intimidated and harassed by management in retaliation to collective concerns and issues that baristas had no power over. As the equipment tech and part of the coffee quality control team, I would look into any situations where coffee quality was below our standards. On three specific occasions at the Millvale cafe, management came down on the entire barista staff accusing them of making bad coffee, when the problem was out of their control. I pinpointed the equipment issues that compromised our standards and made the issues known to management, but management continued to hassle the baristas until I was able to fix the issues and show that with properly functioning machinery, the coffee was not just adequate, but better than the other locations. Workers at the Millvale location have been targeted and blamed for the poor performance of the store despite their earnest attempts to make that cafe thrive. When management got onto them about evening shifts taking too long, staff worked off the clock to make sure the cafe was stocked and clean for the morning shift. In April of this year, the Millvale staff was told their jobs had been eliminated and the store was closed with only a day’s notice. Later that day on their social media accounts, Tazza D’Oro claimed they would just be closing the Millvale cafe for only a week and reopening the following Tuesday. After the fired workers organized a picket, the plans to reopen the store were postponed. One of the workers was able to pick up part-time work at another location, while the other four are trying to make it by on unemployment. I know these kinds of issues are commonplace in the restaurant industry, but they don’t have to be! We’re calling on Tazza D’Oro to do the right thing and sit down with us, develop a plan to restructure the company, and pay severance to the laid-off Millvale workers.

Next to members and residents, staff are the organization's most important asset and the key way the organization fulfills its mission. Like non-profit workers everywhere, we are committed to serving this mission, whether on the streets of Harlem or the halls of government, with great pride. But our current working environment is needlessly unsustainable. It is leading to high turnover and poor staff health, and impacting our programs and partnerships. As a staff made up of predominantly women, people of color, low-income, and residents of Northern Manhattan, we draw inspiration from our co-founders bold action on the West Side Highway in 1988. Their courageous example demonstrates that taking a stand for justice can sometimes be uncomfortable, but it is always the right thing to do. Through a union, we are reaffirming our commitment to WE ACT's mission. Together with management, we will find solutions to common challenges and reinvest in the organization's long-term success. More and more non-profit organizations are recognizing the value that a unionized workforce offers -- and we are confident that WE ACT will join this growing list soon. After all, New York City is a "Union Town." In view of our present climate crisis and the continued exclusion of low-income people of color from important political and environmental decisions, our members, supporters, and communities everywhere deserve only the best and strongest WE ACT we can build. WE are WE ACT and THIS is environmental justice!

Graduate Tutors work closely with English Learner and Newcomer students — students who have recently arrived in the United States from another country. Cutting Graduate Tutor jobs would have a devastating impact on individual student achievement and would eliminate one of the only safety nets this demographic, and the other students who receive additional academic support from Graduate Tutors can consistently rely on for individualized, small group support. One thing is very clear: Without graduate tutors, students, parents, teachers — everyone loses. ¿Porque es importante? Los tutores graduados trabajan en estrecha colaboración con estudiantes de inglés, estudiantes nuevas a la comunidad, y estudiantes que han llegado recientemente a los Estados Unidos desde otro país. Recortar trabajos de tutores graduados tendría un impacto devastador en el rendimiento individual de los estudiantes y eliminaría una de las únicas redes de seguridad de este grupo demográfico, y otros estudiantes que reciben apoyo académico adicional de los tutores graduados que hoy en día pueden contar con el apoyo individualizado en grupos pequeños. Una cosa está muy clara: sin tutores graduados, estudiantes, padres, maestros: todos pierden.

My name is Kathleen Hendricks, I have spina bifida and hydrocephalus, and I’ve worked at Walmart in Texas for 19 years as a greeter. Last year, Walmart raised the lifting requirements for greeter positions and told me I wouldn’t be able to greet anymore. After a series of requests to be moved into a different position, I was finally reassigned to the fitting room where I answered phones, helped customers, and processed returns. After a few months, Walmart started cutting my hours. Eventually, my manager stopped putting me on the schedule altogether because I can’t climb a ladder with my wheelchair. I loved my job at Walmart. I don’t know what I’m going to do to find another one after almost two decades. It feels like Walmart doesn’t want me – or any other employees with disabilities –at the store anymore. Unfortunately, my story is not unique. This is happening to associates with disabilities like me all across the country — we’re being pushed out of our jobs. Join me and sign this petition.

The 800 workers who helped with community management, marketing games, running eSports, legal, and so much more are all far more valuable than the CEO. When making the decision to cut someone from Activision we'd choose to #FireBobbyKotick every time. Bobby Kotick has been raking in $30 million dollars a year as Activision CEO, that massive income doesn't come from nowhere. It comes from the labor of his employees. Kotick's wealth is built from the stolen wages of his workers. [1] Activision, under Kotick's leadership, gave a $15 million dollar bonus to the CFO *just for changing his job title* then they have the gall to turn around and lay off 800 workers just days later? [2] It's disgusting to hear Kotick boasting about record revenue for the company then announcing an 8% staffing cut in the next breath. Kotick was especially proud to announce the 9% bump to stockholder values. That 9% comes from our labor. [3] Please sign this petition in solidarity and send a message to Activision Blizzard's c-suite that we won't let their greed ruin the games we love and uproot the lives of workers anymore! Sources: 1. https://kotaku.com/activisions-ceo-made-28-6-million-last-year-300-times-1825715966 2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-04/activision-gives-15-million-sweetener-to-new-cfo-dennis-durkin 3. https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/yw83kg/activision-blizzard-reports-record-revenue-as-they-fuck-over-800-employees

Times are changing and I believe Publix is far behind in certain terms. Revising the dresscode won't change the satisfaction of your customers, nor should it affect the quality of your business and products, with that in mind I think you should be taking another look at your dress code. Like I said before, in these modern times this type of self expression is VERY important to some people. There's no point anymore in drawing out the past, and conforming people to this poorly out-dated dress code. When someone refuses to change their hair/etc. for Publix you're thinking they must not want to work there badly, but the message you're truly sending is that unless you give up your individuality you cannot work for our company. If someone decides they want to do something different for themselves they should be able to with out fear of losing their jobs.

A vast majority of the staff scrape by living check to check. Their sudden closure of Country Inn has left many workers, most with young children and families, with nothing for the upcoming holiday season. Most, if not all, these workers gave their all for JANCO for years and years only to be tossed aside 12 days before Thanksgiving. A lot, if not all, workers are facing a really difficult time through no fault of their own

Lives we’re effected

It's not right that the rich corporate just shut down businesses without warning and putting so many people without jobs. This is an issue that's been going on for so long and there has to be an end to this. It's before the holidays and people are out of work in a time where right now jobs are hard to find. While the corporate people are sitting comfortable cutting peoples' jobs, the people he cut out of jobs are worrying about how they're going to feed their families, pay their bills, live. Justice is due.

“When Uber deactivated me, I had been driving for them for 2 years. One day, I woke up and couldn’t log in to the app. Uber deactivated me because of a glitch in their system. In my case, the deactivation was Uber’s fault, but drivers get unfairly deactivated every day for all sorts of reasons. Uber kept me out of work for 3 weeks and I fell behind on my car payment. A car payment that I was making to Uber, because I had been leasing a car from them for 18 months. Once my account was reactivated, I worked 12-13 hours a day to catch up on my car payment. It didn’t matter. Uber repossessed my car - taking the thing that I rely on to make a living and something that I was leasing from them. Even though I’ve been reactivated, I live in constant fear that I could be deactivated again for some unknown reason. We shouldn't have to live like this.” -Eleisha R. Every day, Uber and Lyft drivers work under a constant fear of having their accounts deactivated. Deactivation is the equivalent of an immediate firing. Drivers are frequently deactivated with little to no warning, and they are often given no explanation of why they were deactivated, or how they can remedy the situation. The constant threat of termination, in addition to limited opportunity for recourse, means drivers are constantly in a state of fear. Drivers’ stability at work is entirely out of their hands. Instead, their future is decided by the whims of passengers and the companies. It is almost impossible for drivers to advocate for themselves once deactivated, or to fight for reactivation. If you aren't an Uber or Lyft driver, can you imagine working in these conditions? There are numerous things that trigger deactivations including car accidents, background checks, passenger complaints and driver personal safety concerns. Clear policies on why deactivations occur must be developed for each of these issues and more. Drivers need a voice at Uber and Lyft in shaping these policies to better protect both drivers and passengers alike. Drivers deserve a seat at the table. Gig Workers Rising has decided that it is time to take action against Uber and Lyft’s unfair deactivation practices and the devastating impacts they have on drivers. This petition will be delivered in person to Uber and Lyft by drivers. Join us by taking action and signing our petition.

During my time at Washington Reagan National Airport (DCA) the culture was extremely tolerant of a sexual environment and acceptable harassment. Many employees across the company in all different departments have expressed similar situations and environments. Several employees including supervisors attempted to report incidents to the Station Manager and human resource department. After reporting incidents, employees were fired, harassed and/or retaliated against. When this action by Delta was acceptable, other employees have felt powerless to speak up for themselves and address the situation. HR does not do enough to protect employees from workplace harm. One employee cannot fight against these big bullies alone. Employees cannot be afraid to speak up. I personally have lost my career and my life stopped once I was subjected to sexual assault at work. This should not have to happen to one more person! Delta must be held accountable for its harassment problem and create a safe, respectful work environment. (these are views and opinions of the author based on personal experience)

This is important because employees are not clear on what they're signing and are also not expecting to be harassed or discriminated against. Employees are completely unaware that they are signing away their rights to justice if ever they have negative experiences. Companies aren't creating an environment that will hold perpetrators for sexual harassment accountable for their actions, which makes them bold and fearless in their pursuits. I was an employee for 5 months at Longhorn Steakhouse. There were multiple of my coworkers that touched me inappropriately and spoke to me inappropriately. I was disgusted. But I was also not in a position to lose my job. There were times that I would be really aggravated with their continuous actions and speak up and I would be sent home early. Eventually my hours became shorter and shorter, to the point that I would be scheduled for only one or two days a week. If I would've known that when I signed those papers during orientation that I would not be able to get an attorney to represent me in court, and it exempts them from all legal responsibilities in such a case, I would have never signed. And I think anyone applying for a position at this company needs to know what they're signing.