On or around Friday, June 19th, 2020, postings went up at Metro stating that masks with the words “I AM ESSENTIAL, NOT SACRIFICIAL” were political statements and not allowed to be worn while an employee was on paid time. Metro Management initially restricted drivers from wearing any masks at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in March; Deputy Manager Crystal Martin suggested that masks were ineffective and did not need to be worn at a meeting with employees. City services were shut down or went remote, but Transit Operators were required to continue working with the public without sufficient protections or hazard pay. When masks were finally allowed, Metro workers began circulating these masks with our Teamster union emblem and the phrase “I AM ESSENTIAL, NOT SACRIFICIAL” along with Teamsters at numerous other employers across the country, public and private. This is protected concerted activity under Wisconsin 111.70(2) RIGHTS OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, “Municipal employees have the right of self-organization, and the right to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in lawful, concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” Teachers and other public servants have acted collectively, wearing buttons and other literature for their mutual aid and protection, upheld consistently by the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission and the courts. Metro workers have had to push consistently for safe working conditions and respect, through lock down and now as the City reopens - WE ARE ESSENTIAL, NOT SACRIFICIAL.

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.

As protests across the country call for elected officials to #DefundThePolice, Target uses its profits to do the opposite. As long as Target Corporation continues to invest in the very systems that perpetrate violence in Black communities, any statements it makes in solidarity with Black Lives Matter ring hollow. By providing funding and legitimacy to punitive policing strategies in Minneapolis and across the country, Target bears a unique responsibility for the circumstances that lead to the death of George Floyd and countless other victims of police brutality. According to Target’s own annual report, Target has awarded grants to more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. (1) Starting in 2003, Target Corporation launched its “SafeZone collaborative” program in Minneapolis. The origin of the program, according to Target, was, “a widespread feeling some years ago in the city of Minneapolis that the downtown business district was not a pleasant place to work or visit.” In order to make visiting its stores a more “pleasant experience,” Target provided $300,000 for a CCTV system across downtown Minneapolis, used by police to crack down on panhandlers and other “lifestyle offenders.” (2) By 2006, Target Corporation had expanded the program significantly and “SafeZone” became a registered 501(c)3 organization. Target even recruited one of its own executives to serve as the organization’s Executive Director and paid his salary as the organization got off the ground. The organization expanded to include more than 20 different safety programs including a text-based crime “tipping” system and a “Court Watch” program, “in which SafeZone partners attend court proceedings to ensure that judges are aware of how seriously the community considers the prob-lem of crime in the SafeZone.” Target eventually created its own forensic services lab, which provides forensic analysis and expert witnesses to local police departments free of charge. (3) Target’s “Safe Cities” program has expanded to more than 20 cities nationwide. While its operations and the flow of funds from Target Corporation to police departments remain somewhat opaque, it continues to provide direct funding to police departments across the country. Through its public safety grants program, Target donates to police foundations that acquire equipment for police departments through private funding channels, allowing them to bypass public oversight. A handful of Target’s executives sit on these foundation’s boards and facilitate the strategic funneling of resources to beef-up police responses to low-level offenses. In 2007, for example, the Los Angeles Police Foundation approached Target for a $200,000 donation to acquire state of the art surveillance software created by Palantir. (4) Target promptly provided the funds and advertised its new “unique public-private partnership” with the LAPD. In 2008, Target made a similar donation of $300,000 to the Baltimore Police Department to “portable command posts and enhance a cell-phone tracking system.” (5) In targeting “lifestyle offenders,” Target Corporation embraced the toxic “broken-windows” theory of policing that directly contributes to the criminalization of Black people specifically, and the working class, generally. Prioritizing these low level offenses leads to a massive increase in police confrontations (that can be deadly), arrests that funnel communities into the criminal justice system, and surveillance practices that undermine the privacy of the communities it claims to serve. (6) Sources: 1 - https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/csr/pdf/2010_overview.pdf 2 - https://perf.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/Free_Online_Documents/Safe_Cities/targets%20safe%20city%20program%20-%20community%20leaders%20take%20the%20initiative%20in%20building%20partnerships%20with%20the%20police%202010.pdf 3 - https://perf.memberclicks.net/assets/docs/Free_Online_Documents/Safe_Cities/targets%20safe%20city%20program%20-%20community%20leaders%20take%20the%20initiative%20in%20building%20partnerships%20with%20the%20police%202010.pdf 4 - https://www.propublica.org/article/private-donors-supply-spy-gear-to-cops ; http://www.lapdonline.org/newsroom/news_view/38662 5 -https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2008-09-17-0809160101-story.html 6 - https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://scholar.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1123&context=cl_pubs

On June 11, dozens of Trader Joe's Capitol Hill (Store #130 in Seattle) workers informed store management that they would be participating in the June 12 protest organized by the local chapter of Black Lives Matter. Store managers determined that broad participation in the protest would lead to staffing issues, and decided to close the store early on June 12. Store management assured workers participating in the protest that this would be considered an excused absence and would not result in any disciplinary measures. But on the morning of June 12, a representative from TJs corporate called the store to ask about the early closure. Unsatisfied with the rationale for the early closure, corporate informed store management that the store would be closed indefinitely, effective immediately. We, a group of Store #130 workers who wish to remain anonymous, believe it's no coincidence that the store was abruptly closed on the day that dozens of us took action in support of the movement for Black lives. We know that the company will try to avoid the appearance of being antagonistic to the movement. They will likely cite "personnel issues," “safety concerns,” or operating costs as rationale for the store closure. What they really mean when they cite "personnel issues" is that they saw our store as a hot spot for worker organizing. TJs corporate has aggressively squashed worker organizing for years and has a long record of retaliation. This is the most dramatic retaliation any TJs store has seen to date, but it is not an isolated incident. Prior to the abrupt store closure, we had been organizing to secure a living wage, health insurance for all workers, and basic protections against COVID-19. The large majority of us were already living paycheck to paycheck, and many of us were working without health insurance while risking steady exposure to the public in the midst of a pandemic. While Trader Joe’s has publicly voiced support for “Black crew members and customers,” the company has done nothing to tangibly support the movement for Black lives, and they have penalized employees for supporting the movement. While the company insists that they value crew member feedback and support crew-led solutions, they have consistently disregarded our insights and requests. We know what it would take for the store to run smoothly, and we want to be in conversation with store management about solutions. We are saddened by the store closure. For each of us, it means both a loss of community and a loss of financial security in the midst of an economic downturn. We recognize it's a loss for our neighborhood as well, and we hope you will join us in demanding that Trader Joe's reopen Store #130 and restore our jobs immediately. We've heard that TJs corporate will make a final decision about the closure this coming Monday. We'll be prepared with a response regardless of the decision.

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.

This is important to us because if we were allowed to wear shorts while working in higher temperatures, we would be less likely to overheat, which would, therefore, allow us to become more productive. Most of the employees work in warehouses that do not have A/C or are delivery drivers who are in the heat all day. It is important for us to stay cool and presentable while we work so that we can promote a healthy company image, one that Sherwin-Williams can continue to be proud of. We are required to look professional to uphold this image, and we think that khaki shorts would suffice, still meeting the professional attire requirements.

As City employees, we are told: The City of Seattle is committed to creating a workplace where every employee is valued for who they are and can do their best work. As City employees, we commit to the Citywide values of equity, inclusion, learning, accountability, and stewardship so that we can each thrive in the workplace. Our values shape how we create and maintain a work environment that is based on care, consideration, and respect so we can best serve our communities and support one another as colleagues. We want that to be true. We want words turned to actions. We want better for Seattle.

The protests happening around the nation right now are trying to bring justice to the families affected by police violence and systemic racism. Starbucks can make a huge difference to the people in protest right now, including our own coworkers and family members. The requests in the letter may not seem to ask for a lot, but they would impact people in every city and would give Starbucks a legacy of supporting oppressed communities.

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.