This is important because it's fair. Starbucks is making record profits. Earnings reports has profits the highest they have ever been (http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexadavis/2014/07/24/starbucks-sizzling-profits-get-cool-reception/) In years past, employees would be granted a personal day every quarter as well as sick time being available. After the financial crisis, personal and sick days went away, never to return. If partners get sick, they have to use their precious vacation time to make up the difference. The speed at which employees accrue vacation time was also cut down, so it takes longer to make enough to cover one day. Starbucks should and can do better. Starbucks Baristas operate their stores. It's non management that is responsible for creating that coveted third place environment (the space between home and work) that's so essential and so important to our loyal and wonderful customers. The larger percentage of Starbucks employees struggle to live from week to week. As amazing as the entire benefits package is, free coffee doesn't pay the bills. Free stock won't put gas in our car. Free tuition doesn't ensure a quality of life where many of us scrape by from week to week, just to afford food and gas.

We shouldn't have to change who we are just for a job that we need to make ends meet. We are in a new generation now filled with many people freely expressing themselves in different ways and work places shouldn't have rules that wont allow us to freely express ourselves.

Nissan is the most productive automaker in North America. However, that productivity comes at a price. Only a fraction of Nissan's employees are directly hired and few earn the top pay rate. Most work for agencies like Yates, Onin or Calsonic - have few paid days off, and must deal with ever increasing line speeds. Nissan workers want to be directly hired, earn the top pay rate after a reasonable amount of time, and work at reasonable line speeds.

I have been a T-Mobile employee for 5 years, worked in several different departments and have never been asked to work on major holidays such as Christmas. Recently, I was informed that T-Mobile is now ranked number 1 for the prestigious JD Power Awards. It seems to me that in order to keep this competitive position, T-Mobile has decided that employees like me will be forced to work major holidays, including Christmas Day. Christmas Day is a time to be spent with family and loved ones. Whether you work for T-Mobile, or you just own a cell phone and care about the morals of your cell phone provider, please sign and share this petition, to show T-Mobile's CEO John Legere that it is not acceptable to force it's employees to work on Christmas Day. With enough voices, we can make a change!

There have been several serious OHS incidents at the Smith's warehouse in QLD over the last few years, including a worker being pinned by a forklift and another worker losing half their finger. As a result, workers are concerned that Smith's aren't taking their OHS obligations seriously. Members of the National Union of Workers take OHS very seriously because it could save their life. On 26 June 2014, Royce Mumford's forklift bumped racking and a pallet of chips was dropped. Royce was working four bays away from other workers so there was no risk of injury to anyone. Royce was marched out the front door, and his termination letter reads that he was fired for misconduct. Royce had worked for Smith's for 19 years. Royce's job has not been filled. Accidents happen. Accidents happen at Smiths. Forklifts bump racking which can cause pallets to fall. This kind of incident has been captured on CCTV many times, In Royce's case he was fired, but in other cases no action has been taken. Recently 12 other long-serving employees have been fired, workers feel employees who have worked for Smiths for a shorter time are not being sacked in comparable situations. Workers suspect that Smith's may announce mass job losses later this year. Are Smith's callously getting rid of long-serving employees to save money on redundancy payments? So where does Royce find himself now? "I am getting driving lessons in a Heavy Rigid truck to try and get my HR license to improve my employment prospects. After a month of applying for countless jobs, I still don't have a job. It is very demoralising. This is putting a huge strain on our finances. My wife Shelly is unable to work as she has a serious health issue. We also have a son with Autism and have had to cut back on therapy sessions for him due to our limited finances. I am the sole bread winner. I am feeling depressed; stress and anxiety are part of my daily life now. Having a termination letter stating that my termination was due to misconduct has not helped at all. Trying to explain what really happened puts my credibility on the line. I have a big black mark against me. After 19 years of service I have no reference from Smith's. To be honest, I am really angry at the way Smith's has treated me, especially considering the far more serious incidents that have occurred with little or no disciplinary action. Why am I being treated differently? I feel robbed of my future." Royce Mumford, NUW member.

I can't tell you how many times I have pumped a syrup of some type DOWN MY SHIRT SLEEVE on accident... Long sleeves GET IN THE WAY!!! We work HARD to keep creating inspired moments in our customers day. We want to be comfortable!! Especially in the hot summer months but working in general in long sleeves is a pain! Please let us get rid of our sloppy, syrup covered sleeves! We wash our hands to keep them clean, but what about those long sleeves getting frap roasted all summer long? ON THE STARBUCKS WEBSITE IT SAYS: "Our Partners... We’re called partners, because it’s not just a job, it’s our passion. Together, we embrace diversity to create a place where each of us can be ourselves. We always treat each other with respect and dignity. And we hold each other to that standard." A PLACE WHERE EACH OF US CAN BE OURSELVES. I KNOW our efficiency will IMPROVE with shorter sleeves.

We’re Starbucks employees and we love our customers. Every single day, dedicated customers like Georgia, Chris, Jim, Herb, Colleen, Anna, Rob, Sandy, Charlie, Tim, Mike, Mark, Ashley, Lee, Andie and countless others come into our stores, order their drinks, and share a little bit of their day with us. Our customers are loyal, consistent, and predictable (about their drink orders, at least!) and we love serving them. But we need Starbucks to treat us like we treat our customers. We, employees of Starbucks, demand Starbucks give us one-month advance notice of our schedules, stable hours, and access to full-time work. We regularly have schedules that fluctuate from 15 hours to 40 hours to no hours. We often get our schedules less than a week in advance — that’s not nearly enough to plan for childcare, another job, or school… or enough to cover our bills. And few baristas actually get those health benefits Starbucks brags about because it costs too much or they don’t work enough hours to qualify. Jannette Navarro, a Starbucks barista and young mom, just told her story in the New York Times of the constant chaos of an erratic Starbucks schedule: “You’re waiting on your job to control your life,” she said, with the scheduling software used by her employer dictating everything from “how much sleep Gavin [her son] will get to what groceries I’ll be able to buy this month.” All across the country, Starbucks baristas like us sold copies of the New York Times paper that exposed what it's like to be one of the 130,000 workers making the lattes that keep America going every day. We are a few of those baristas and, like Jannette, we also struggle with the nightmarish "magic" of Starbucks' computerized schedules. After the article came out, Starbucks responded with an announcement that they will now post schedules one week in advance and stop giving baristas closing and opening shifts — we call them "clopens" — back to back. Basically just adhering to policies they already have – and this isn't enough. We are coming together with our dedicated customers — like you — and asking Starbucks for one-month advance notice of our schedules, stable hours, and access to full-time work. There's no reason why our work schedules can't be as consistent as our loyal customers who line up for their morning “Venti soy latte”. Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/people/ivypics/

In the words of a former Bluestone worker, "we live from pay to pay, we depend on our wages to be in our account so that we are able to pay our bills and rent". Bluestone's collapse has left some workers missing out on rent and mortgage payments leaving them feeling "sick" and "anxious". When you put in a day's work you should get a fair day's pay.

We work at the IKEA store in Seattle, Washington. Together we have close to 10 years of experience. We enjoy our jobs at IKEA, and take a lot of pride in delighting our customers. However, like many part-time workers in retail, we struggle to pay our bills. Sometimes we work almost full-time, but many times we have to make ends meet on less than 25 hours per week. After co-workers spoke out about the need for higher pay, IKEA responded by raising starting pay to match the living wage for our community. Beginning January 1, the national starting pay will average $10.76/hour. We think raising starting pay is a step in the right direction, but co-workers with years of experience may receive no raise at all. We think that investing in co-workers will lead to happier employees, better retention, and higher sales growth. That’s why we’re asking Ikea to offer full-time jobs to every co-worker who wants one and raise pay for all co-workers, not just new hires. We’re calling on our coworkers and customers in the United States and around the world to join us in supporting this petition. We know that when we speak up Ikea listens. Together we’ll convince the company to do what’s right. Thank you for standing with us! Kwesi, Martina, Ruthe Ikea Seattle

Walmart says that it prides itself on its commitment to veterans. Last year, the company got a lot of press about hiring veterans. But as a disabled veteran and former Walmart employee, I think they can do more. A lot of members of the military and veterans are on a fixed income and some are even on public assistance. These people fought to uphold the freedoms and rights that we are afforded today and a retailer as big as Walmart can help them by offering a discount for active servicemembers and veterans. A lot of people who serve our country rely on Walmart because of its low prices, but an additional discount could really go a long way in helping these families and would show that Walmart really supports them. I worked for Walmart for four years in Pennsylvania and it was so disappointing when soldiers from local military bases would ask if we had discounts and I had to say no. There’s a lot that Walmart needs to do to treat veterans better -- especially the ones who are store employees -- but offering a discount to the servicemembers and veterans who have sacrificed so much for our country is a good place to start. Please show your support to our vets and military by signing this petition.

Here in Liberia, we are in an urgent cross-border fight to contain the deadly virus Ebola that is killing both health workers as well as our citizens. It’s believed to be the worst Ebola outbreak ever and has claimed the lives of hundreds of people with many more infected. The Ebola virus has penetrated 8 of the 15 counties in Liberia and is impacting many of our neighboring West African countries as well. We experienced some 14 years of civil war and crisis in Liberia that caused a serious brain drain in the health sector. Ebola is now threatening the lives of the few health workers we do have -- along with all of our citizens. The long-term impact on our health system could be devastating. Ebola is highly contagious and has a high mortality rate. Because it is spread through contact with body fluids, appropriate protective gear is absolutely critical to reducing the spread of the virus and ensuring that the health workers helping to treat the victims do not contract the virus. Health workers are dying daily because the Government of Liberia and its partners are not providing the necessary tools and gear to keep them safe. We need more technical, logistical (such as protective gear, tools and vehicles) and financial support. We're also concerned that families of health workers who die from Ebola are not being compensated for their loss, leaving their families to struggle after tragic loss. While we've been working with communities to raise funds for these families, we believe the government should do more to help. As health care workers on the frontlines of fighting Ebola, we’re asking you to join us in calling on the Government of Liberia to ensure that all health workers throughout all counties and districts of Liberia have the best protective gear and that families of health care workers are compensated for their losses.

Having worked at restaurants for 15 years -- including at the Olive Garden for six years -- I know the industry well. Olive Garden’s parent company, Darden Restaurants, can do a lot more to make its restaurants better places to work, but first they need to listen to their employees. For example, in January, the company got rid of automatic gratuity for large parties. It might not seem like much, but when a large party takes up a lot of your shift, those tips make a big difference. Managers told us it was for legal reasons, but I later learned it was because Darden wanted to save a little money on its taxes. I wish the company would've first considered the impact on its servers. We depend on those tips to pay our bills. Another issue is what I call "stuttering breaks." We are told to take a 30 minute break, then asked to wait another hour before returning to work -- all of it off the clock. This seems like a terrible way to run a business, and it takes its toll on staff. How can we make a living when we're not sure how many hours we'll work from week to week? In six years of working at Olive Garden, I've noticed that it's getting harder and harder for employees to make ends meet.  I've had to move back in with my parents in order to afford to finish my college degree in software engineering. I can't imagine how my coworkers with kids -- coworkers who I care deeply about and spend much of my time with -- are able to make it. I want to see the Olive Garden, and all Darden restaurants (which also include LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, The Capital Grille, Eddie V's, and Yard House) become great places to work.  Darden is such a large employer that if they do more to support employees like me, they can set a standard for the industry -- and they'll get to have their pick of the best employees, too. Now is the time for company leaders to meet with the staff at their restaurants. We all belong to this company and we've got a stake in its survival. At the end of July, longtime Darden CEO Clarence Otis announced that he would be stepping down. As our company faces a leadership vacuum, Wall Street hedge funds are playing a much bigger role in deciding the future of this company. They called for the ouster of Otis and have lobbied for a potential scheme to sell off Darden's assets. These outside firms must consider the concerns and challenges facing the staff at their restaurants. These restaurants are not just assets to be sold off but are how 130,000 workers feed and care for their families.   
 Customers, shareholders, and fellow employees -- please join me in calling on Darden leadership and hedge fund stakeholders to meet with employees and hear our concerns. It's time we had a seat at the table when it comes to deciding the future of this company! Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/people/jeepersmedia/