Trump’s executive order is negative for American Business. Immigrants have made immeasurable contributions to the tech industry and this will prevent companies like Oracle from recruiting the very best talent. As Oracle employees, we are enriched by immigrants we work with both professionally and personally. Oracle is a notable exception to the 127 tech companies that have already signed the brief, yet could be one of the most impacted. The 9th Court of Appeals will weigh in on this later this week and we strongly urge Oracle to take a stance on this on behalf of its employees. Irene Scher Rachel Kane Lara Beers

Starbucks paper cups exact a huge toll on the global plastic pollution problem -- and the majority of coffee-addicts and baristas still don't know it's happening! I've been a barista for 5 years and sustainability is important to me -- and I bet other partners agree. I'm working with Stand.earth, an environmental organization, to show Starbucks that partners want to see them do more for the environment by using sustainable cups. Starbucks has emerged as the industry leader in caffeinating the world, and therefore has a duty to its customers, as well as past and present partners, to do be more responsible with their trash!

Aaron Lawson, Dollar General, Williamsburg, OH I’ve worked at Dollar General now for eight months. I make $8.15 an hour and struggle to scrape enough money together just to eat each week. Because my hours fluctuate from ten to 25 hours each week I can only worry just about basics, keeping a roof over my head, my bills and making sure I have a frozen dinner waiting for me at home when I get off work. I walk to work everyday but if I made $15 an hour with consistent, fulltime hours the first thing I would do is buy a car and get a driver’s license. The freedom of having a car and being able to go anywhere would be amazing. ---- Regina Mays, Walmart, High Point, NC My name is Regina Mays and I make $11.05 an hour after almost 6 years at Walmart. Often, I’m only scheduled for 32 hours each week but I’ve gone weeks with no hours. Not knowing what I’ll get from week to week makes it almost impossible to budget. What’s more, I have two children with special needs that are my world and inconsistent schedules make it a constant struggle to be able to provide for them. If I made $15 an hour with consistent, full-time hours I would be able to afford a more reliable vehicle. My van breaks down on the way to work but I can’t afford a new one. All I want to be able to do is serve my community by working at Walmart and be able to provide for my family. Is that too much to ask? ---- Becky Lam, Victoria’s Secret, Texas I’ve been with Victoria’s Secret for eight months and I make $10 an hour. I like my job but it’s tough to get consistent schedules. They are changing all the time and often last minute. If you miss a shift you get written up. If I made $15 an hour and had consistent, full-time hours I would be able to pay off more student loans. I just completed my first year of college and already have a lot.

Dear Travis Kalanick, I was an Uber driver who has now deleted his app and will be no longer driving for Uber. This is why: You currently sit as an economic advisor to President Trump. This means you have direct access to speak to the President about the issues and policies he's pushing forward in America. One issue that is currently affecting America as we know it is the President's recent executive order on immigration: many to know it as the "immigration ban." This should be important to you because many of your Uber drivers are immigrants. And, currently, you have yet to make a strong stance to whether or not you are against this ban. Yes, you have said you will take care of the drivers who are affected by this ban, and then after a wave of social media pressure, you conveniently made steps to put up a fund to provide any legal help for drivers who struggle from this ban. However, with that said, you have yet to make any strong deliberate notions that you will stand up to the President when you meet with him. You said you will discuss with the President on the issue and it affects your business. But, there is a lack of transparency to whether or not you're going to make an effort to say that his ban is unconstitutional and that you will do all you can to reverse the President's executive order. Other companies have made a strong stance. For example, LYFT donated $1,000,000 to the ACLU; Airbnb said they will house refugees for free; the co-founder of Google was spotted protesting at SFO. It is clear what these other CEOs stand for, so I ask, why can't you? You have an obligation to let us all know where you stand because you sit at the table with Trump. I recall, in one of your recent posts, you said that you've "never shied away (maybe to my detriment) from fighting for what’s right." Well, I implore you. I ask you. What do you define as "fighting for what's right?" I would like to know. Your drivers. Your users. The world. Will be watching.

I was a barista at Starbucks a little over a year ago when my kids were small. Overall it was a great place to work, with nice regulars and a hardworking manager who’s a dad like me. So I was really surprised when I saw Starbucks make an announcement on January 19, 2017 that it would be updating its parental leave policy in the U.S. starting in October 2017. At first, the new policy sounded great: new parents in their corporate office will be getting some of the most generous paid leave in the industry -- at least 12 weeks of fully paid time off - which is the way it should be. But partners in the stores will be getting much less: barista moms are getting less than half of what corporate HQ moms get (six weeks paid at 100% of their annual pay), and for barista dads like I was or adoptive parents? Nothing. Not a single day of paid parental leave for those hard working, and deserving parents in the U.S. We would only be allowed unpaid leave. When I worked there, I felt like Starbucks worked hard to take care of their employees and overall, is a progressive company. Giving all new parents the same amount of leave whether they’re in the stores or the corporate office should be a no-brainer. It’s something you’d expect a company like Starbucks to just do automatically. For me, a working dad, it’s an obvious choice. But sometimes a large corporation needs a little nudge to get their attention. Join me in asking Starbucks to do better for all of their employees - including their baristas!

Dear Ginni Rometty: In response to your open letter to Mr. Trump [1], we are disappointed that you did not reaffirm the core values which differentiate both IBM as a company and us collectively as IBMers. While we understand your willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with the president-elect, we believe our shared culture and values remain not only constant, but also central to our transformation underpinned by cloud and cognitive initiatives. As you know, more than 400,000 IBMers around the world work in environments where diversity—including diversity of thought—is the norm. IBM values this because our diversity helps create innovation that enhances every aspect of our business. Your internal memo to employees, advocating diversity and the open exchange of ideas, echoes IBM President Tom Watson’s Policy Letter #4 [2]. Watson’s letter reaffirmed IBM’s moral leadership by refusing to discriminate on the basis of race, resisting the prevailing attitudes of governors in the southern United States. In this instance, Watson sacrificed short-term business interests in order to be on the right side of history, something IBM takes pride in today. IBM’s leadership in this domain is more essential than ever. If we cannot boldly and openly affirm our commitment to diversity, then who are we? The right thing to do for IBM workers and our stakeholders—which includes every person on the planet touched by our technology—is to emphasize this in writing to public officials. Yet writing is not enough. We have a moral and business imperative to uphold the pillars of a free society by declining any projects which undermine liberty, such as surveillance tools threatening freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. The kinds of moral decisions you and our senior executives make in the next four years will define our corporate character for our next century. This will be your legacy. Taking a conservative approach has grave implications. Our own founder’s experience and the rest of history teach us that accommodating those who unleash forces of aggressive nationalism, bigotry, racism, fear, and exclusion inevitably yields devastating outcomes for millions of innocents. IBMers are members of a global family without borders. Hostile rhetoric towards immigrants, Muslims, Latinos, LGBT people, and others impinge on our core values of tolerance, diversity, and open exchange of ideas that are essential for innovation and our ability to recruit top talent. In this present context of insecurity and unpredictability, we also share deep concerns about recent reductions in benefits programs. This has consequences on the morale, retention, and well-being of long-term IBMers, especially those affected by our company’s transformation. For our mutual aid and protection, we petition you to do what is right for IBMers, our business, and society, on the basis of equitable treatment and fairness: (1) Respect our right to refuse participation in any U.S. contracts that violate constitutional and civil liberties. (2) Expand our diversity recruitment programs specifically targeting women, people of color, and LGBT people with the goal of doubling recruitment of these groups in 2017 and steadily increasing the share of these groups as a proportion of new hiring in subsequent years. (3) Prohibit perceived influence-peddling of elected officials by restricting IBM and its employees from using any Trump owned or Trump branded properties for business purposes, in accordance with the IBM Business Conduct Guidelines. (4) Treat established workers with dignity by restoring the 2015 Individual Separation Allowance Plan that provided severance based on years of employment instead of the current one-month severance plan for all employees, regardless of time served. (5) Make IBM retirement plan contributions equitable by restoring company 401k match contributions to regular pay cycles instead of a one-time, year-end contribution that is contingent on being employed as of December 15 of the calendar year, which is not fair to employees who are laid off before that date. As IBMers, we strive to be engaged citizens of the world; innovating how we think and work; collaborating across cultures, time zones, and borders; and, in doing so, we make a positive impact locally and globally. While our differences shape who we are as individual IBMers, our shared corporate culture and values remain central to our success. We petition you to affirm this identity, and we thank you in advance for your leadership and courage in the years ahead. Respectfully, Your fellow IBMers, past and present [1] https://www.ibm.com/blogs/policy/ibm-ceo-ginni-romettys-letter-u-s-president-elect/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PByaqDeBEzE

We asked for tattoos and we got them. Seriously so awesome! However, tattoos are a permanent thing that is stuck with you whether it was in good taste or not. So if we got tattoos, why not hair? Hair is temporary, so why can't we have fun with it!? Our hair is pulled back up into a hat anyway, so hair isn't much of a distraction. I've noticed a lot of Jimmy John's employees have similar edgy style, so I'm almost positive all of our hair colors would have good interest. I'm almost positive that I can get the sandwiches done in 30 seconds, while rocking my dream orange hair do! Bring diversity into the workplace! I love my Jimmy Johns family, but I also wish more than anything that I could express myself through my hair. This could be an amazing thing! It's just hair after all, and it most definitely doesn't define my work ethic or professionalism!

Starbucks Licensee stores inside of the the Pricecutters are given little to no hours. The employees usually end up hating their lives because they spend 6-10 hours a day alone with long lines for long periods of time. They are not given any extra help! Also Pricecutter doesn't hire people on high enough wages no one can survive in this day of age with the pay they give out.

My name is Julia Flores. I am a single mother of two from El Salvador. I have given fifteen years of my life to Whole Foods Market as a dishwasher. I have also fought many times for better working conditions for myself and my coworkers. However, in September I was fired. I am asking John Mackey to reinstate me to my job. I was fired by my store manager Victor Vasquez because they accused me of theft. I have worked there for fifteen years and would NEVER knowingly steal anything. I believe that they have fired me in retaliation for always standing up for the rights of my coworkers and for my pending workers’ compensation lawsuit for a torn shoulder ligament that I suffered in June. What I need is to work. I want to work. I have always liked working at Whole Foods. I want to be working there. That is my goal. I do not believe that it is not just for them to have fired me this way. Why wouldn’t they just give me a warning? I want to be reinstated to my job. I would also like for Whole Foods to change their policy about thefts. I am not the only one who has been fired after many years of work when accused of theft of a small product. Therefore, I also will demand that Whole Foods change their corporate policy so that theft of an item worth $10 or less to be covered under their policy for corrective action. To my coworkers still working at Whole Foods: Don’t give up on defending your rights! We cannot be silent. Thank you for helping me win back my job. ---- Mi nombre es Julia Flores. Soy madre soltera de dos hijas del Salvador. Yo he dado quince años de mi vida a Whole Foods Market trabajando como dishwasher. También he luchado muchas veces para mejorar las condiciones de trabajo para mi y mis compañeros de trabajo. Sin embargo, en Septiembre salí despedida por Victor Vasquez porque me acusaron de robo. Yo he trabajado allí quince años y NUNCA hubiera robado conscientemente. Yo creo que me han despedido en represalia por siempre defender mis derechos y los derechos de todos los trabajadores y también porque tengo una demanda pendiente por mi accidente laboral cuando me accidente el brazo en Junio. Lo que yo necesito es trabajo. Yo quiero trabajar. Siempre me ha gustado trabajar en Whole Foods. Quiero seguir trabajando allí. Esta es mi meta. No creo que es justo que me hayan despedido de esta forma. Por que no me hubieran dado solamente una advertencia? Quiero regresar a mi trabajo. Yo también quiero que Whole Foods cambie su póliza sobre los robos. No soy la única que ha sido despedida después de muchos años de trabajo cuando somos acusados de un robo pequeño. Entonces, también quiero exigir que Whole Foods cambie su póliza en su corporación para que los robo de minimis de productos que valen $10 o menos sea bajo su póliza para acción correctiva, en vez de ser una infracción mayor. A mis compañeros que siguen trabajando en Whole Foods: No dejen de defender sus derechos! No podemos quedarnos callados. Gracias por ayudarme a recuperar mi trabajo.

This is important because a person's hair is an extension of their personality. Most people who work at Jimmy John's are young highschool and college kids. Those are the time meant to figure out who you are and this extends to hair color. Many professions are allowing colored hair include most of the food industry, which Jimmy John's is part of. Please help Jimmy John's employees express themselves with their hair color.

Cuz people have tattoos they have to cover like me

This year, some retailers are opening as early as 6am on Thanksgiving Day. Every year these companies take more and more family time away from hardworking employees. This is yet another example of retail companies completely disregarding our lives. We are being pushed to work harder, longer hours for the same measly paychecks that don’t support our families, while retail executives and CEOs sit at home with their families and collect millions from our work. Thanksgiving is a day everyone should get to spend with our families. We are calling on all retail stores to close on Thanksgiving, as a fully paid holiday, so retail workers across the country can spend time with our families.