1.) Nationwide we are not given enough hours to survive. We are adults, parents, and people, who have bills to pay and lives to live, that cannot happen at 15 hours a week.

2.) we are constantly told that we have access to wonderful benefits, many of those wonderful benefits can only be given to you if you consistently work over 20 hours. you can’t consistently work over 20 hours if you’re consistently being scheduled for under 15 hours (even the strongest and most long baristas get 15 hours or less).

3.) when you receive access to those “amazing” benefits, like free health care, you’re still paying money out of pocket for medical appointments and paying hundreds a month for health care. My 4 year coworker was paying $600 a month for Starbucks “wonderful” healthcare, and still being billed $100+ for any medical appointment they went to. Not to mention, the asu program is NOT free either like they say. Multiple of my coworkers have had to owe on their taxes due to being uninformed about the tuition program and legalities.

4.) Nationwide, we are consistent understaffed which equals, overworked. We cannot be soloing on cafe bar and drive bar, in the middle of peak, and expected to grab food at the same time. Yet these are expectations my store, and many other stores nationwide have everyday. Why am I being paid to do three jobs, for the price of one?

5.) unrealistic expectations. cannot have drive times under 50 seconds, or high customer connection scores, when three people are running a drive thru and cafe store in peak. then we are punished by more hours being cut, and less labor being given, due to those unrealistic expectations not being met. we are not given the support we need to meet those expectations.

6.) Starbucks is becoming unaligned with its true values. you cannot have consistent truly valuable moments if you’re continuously being expected to cash a person out and give them their drink as quick as possible. yes, good moments happen sometimes. but when we are literally told what movements to make, and exact policies to follow to cut drive times by even a SECOND, we are out of touch with true customer satisfaction and focus.

7.) while baristas are busting their backs to make less than 2 grand a month, having NO work-life balance, SM’s, DM’s, and RM’s are given high pays, with what seems like endless leaves. I got hired at Starbucks almost 8 months ago. Yet somehow, my DM has been gone on THREE different month long PAID leaves. Why is my DM able to take off over three paid months, without question, but if I take one sick day, it’s a struggle to get my sick time in, and I’m questioned for why I’m unable to work.

8.) Sick time is racked in incredibly slowly. 1 hour of sick time per 30 hours worked. If the majority of baristas are only being scheduled 15 hours a week, that’s literally 1 hour of sick time every pay period. 2 hours of sick time every month. 24 hours of sick time every year. The fact that we’ve lived in a pandemic for two years, and are only getting 24 hours of sick time on average, is bullshit.

9.) low pay. please tell me why my partners who have worked for Starbucks over 5 years, are only making $1.22 more than I am, as a fresh 8 month barista. Are you really comfortable with that? I put pay at the of this list for a reason. A lot of people who don’t understand why we’re unionizing think it’s just about money, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about fucking LIVING. You cannot LIVE and experience LIFE while working at Starbucks. And if you are able to, you are one of the blessed few.

I can give you 9 more reasons if need be :)

Unionizing gives you organizing power. It’s absolutely worth it - there are plenty of data showing that pay rises with unionization.

Imagine going to your boss and saying you will quit if you don’t get a raise. Just you. Very likely you won’t be with it because they can just hire someone else.

Imagine your whole store goes to the boss and says the same thing. Boss will be much less likely to fire ALL of you.

Now imagine your store plus ten other stores in the area go making demands. Being in a union means it’s not just one employee vs the corporate execs. It’s all of you organizing and fighting together. Hope that helps!

EDIT: Word choice

If youre already planning on leaving please explain why yall wouldnt vote yes to the union to 1 fuck over starbucks and 2 help your coworkers who are struggling to pay bills and eat if they miss even 1 day of work

If you've got a good manager. I'd say don't do it. They'd be punished HEAVILY, probably relocated, and your hours will get cut and you'd be under scrutiny.

If you unionize you may ask Starbucks to give paid vacation time, the ability for shifts to turn off mobile orders, regularly given raises, bonuses for working understaffed shifts, ensuring you're given the hours you've requested or forced cash compensation, the ability to strike if an unsafe working environment has emerged, and the ability for healthcare benefits with a lower minimum amount of weekly hours. Amongst this, your store will argue to keep benefits you care for, and ones that you want to see. Your most important benefits will be HEARD and listened to.

Also repairs on broken equipment will happen quicker! ❤️

This is what I've heard through talking with Buffalo unionizers.

Something that I’m curious about (and maybe someone will see this and know the answer) is that I don’t plan on staying at Starbucks forever, or even long term. I’ve been here eight months and that’s already longer than my original plan. If my store does plan to unionize (which I don’t think there are talks to), would joining the union be practical if my plans are to leave so soon?

My only experience with knowledge of unions is actors equity since my degree is in theatre production so we used the actor’s equity handbook as a textbook for multiple classes 😂

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