As a former Starbucks barista who worked my way through college over the steaming siren, I support this 100%!! I was still working at Starbucks during the beginning of 2020 and through the first few months of the pandemic before it took a serious toll on my mental health!

It was so unfortunate because a big reason that I took up the job in college at Starbucks was because it touted itself as such a great job with wonderful benefits and then upon working there, I figured out that couldn't be further from the truth.

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One of the biggest benefits I actually needed during the pandemic was health insurance and was the SOLE REASON I began working at the BUX my last 2 semesters of college (as i was turning 26 and would no longer qualify to be on my parents) I am also a T1D so it was really important that I have health insurance. Fast forward to March of 2020 and the pandemic hits, many of the partners at my store use the 2 week leave of absence to be at home with their families.

Those of us who stayed back had their hours cut to the point that almost none of us qualified anymore for our benefits. I also acknowledge this was probably crummy management too but it was so terrible to have to work through the pandemic with a preexisting condition and NO HEALTH INSURANCE.

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I feel like a union would have really prevented things like this from happening to employees.

Tell me about your experiences, link to article with some more info below!

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