These barriers do not restrict contact among baristas at all, and do nothing to "protect" the partners against any form of germs. Baristas store-wide all share the same equipment and supplies. The plexi glass doesn't change that. The barriers slow down all orders and increase the wait time in drive through significantly. They increase the chance of injury behind the counter. They add a lot of stress and anxiety to already stressful situations on shift. Regularly there isn't enough staff to have a barista on each espresso bar, meaning that a single barista is left to dance around the barrier to try and cover both bars. Which again significantly slows service time, and distracts from the company's standard of excellent customer service and connection. It must be noted that these barriers have been installed at a time when many states are relaxing their restrictions and mandates as they phase into reopening. Why are these all of a sudden needed, when Starbucks has been without them for the entire 6 months of the pandemic? Starbucks, we sign this petition and ask that you remove these new physical barriers to the partners being able to provide excellent service and speed in delivering orders. And in removing them, know you are valuing partners mental health and well being by removing the excess stress the barriers cause.

We as Baristas feel that no corporation may decide when a pandemic is over. Working every day is a high risk factor as many customers cannot be turned away when not wearing masks. The COVID-19 situation is still very real and partners should be paid accordingly if we are considered essential.

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.

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.

As of May 4th, 85% of US Starbucks stores have re-opened up for operations after many stores were closed for part of March and April. Currently, most of these stores are operating by using only their Drive-Thru's, continuing delivery services, or allowing customers to pick up mobile orders at the front door. Starbucks plans to transition many stores out of this model through the next few weeks and into the beginning of June. Starbucks plans to implement more grab-and-go services in stores where customers can come into the cafe to order their drinks or pickup their mobile order inside the store. While most locations will not allow seating to be open, restrooms will be accessible in some stores and social distancing will likely be difficult to maintain in a fast-paced environment like Starbucks. While all of us want things to get back to normal, it is not necessary and is irresponsible for Starbucks to reopen cafe's as the country continues to see high amounts of cases of COVID-19 with some states even seeing a spike in new cases. While many local and state governments have allowed for businesses to reopen, we believe that Starbucks should act responsibly during this time to keep store cafe's closed until the COVID-19 pandemic is better under control and more widespread testing is available. As a fellow Starbucks employee (partner), I believe it is nearly impossible for us to not be exposed if customers come into our cafe's. Many stores have not received enough plastic shields to protect themselves from customers that may potentially be infected and it will be challenging to implement social distancing in stores that are high volume. Furthermore, Starbucks is not requiring customers to wear a mask which could endanger both partners and other customers inside the cafe. Stores do their best to constantly clean surfaces and high-touch areas but this can often be missed during the busiest times of the day. All it takes is one customer that is infected to spread the virus to others that come after them. Starbucks should continue to keep cafe's closed through the the remainder of May and the month of June at minimum. If necessary, Starbucks should keep cafe's closed even longer if the US continues to not see a steady decline in COVID-19 cases. As partners, we love our stores and our communities and we can't wait to see our customers in store again. However, Starbucks needs to prioritize the safety of both customers and partners during these challenging times.

“Models show that if 80 percent of people wear masks that are 60 percent effective, easily achievable with cloth, we can get to an effective R0 of less than one. That’s enough to halt the spread of the disease.” https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/dont-wear-mask-yourself/610336/ We can do our part to slow the spread of covid-19 by requiring customers to wear masks in order to receive service at Starbucks stores. Starbucks already requires partners to wear masks, but this is only protecting others from employees and is doing nothing to protect employees from customers and does not protect customers from each other. Starbucks China requires customers to wear masks before entering stores, we can and should do the same here in North America.

Most Starbucks workers are making just enough to make ends meet. They cannot afford to be put on leave without pay. ******************************** La mayoría de los trabajadores de Starbucks recibe apenas suficiente para vivir al día. No pueden estar sin pago por más de un mes. Starbucks México está jugando con la salud y bienestar de cientos de familias Mexicanas.

My son works for one and he said they dont get sick pay and he cant wear rubber gloves cause he has to keep removing them and hes a single dad with a toddler at home in his sole care. All these delivery companies need to do way more to protect their employees. Not only are they putting them and their families at home at risk but they are also putting their customers at risk. And Starbucks should definitely shut down!

Nobody should be losing their healthcare benefits during this crisis. It's good Starbucks has added mental health benefits for baristas and new a “catastrophe pay” policy for people who get sick. But the hours cuts from this crisis are hitting us all hard. Starbucks would normally be kicking people off of healthcare in July for not having enough hours, but a lot of people are going to be really low the first half of the year because of the crisis. We need them to commit to not kick anyone off in their July audit, no matter how many hours they are able to work during the coronavirus crisis. We need Starbucks to be a leader here and commit to preserving workers healthcare. They need to make sure they don’t do any harm to the benefits their workers already have. Sign on to call on Starbucks to protect our health by protecting our healthcare.

Closing Starbucks, during this pandemic of the coronavirus is crucial. The virus itself is airborne, and although washing your hands frequently, and disinfecting the store is helpful, that won’t prevent the spread of said virus. Both customers AND partners are at risk of catching and spreading the virus. At this point in time, there is no way to know who has the coronavirus, due to the limited number of tests. Suspending all business hours, until further notice, WHILE continuing to pay both hourly, and salary workers, would be beneficial to both customers & partners. Most Starbucks locations are strategically placed near hospitals and schools/universities. Although most schools have closed, most hospitals have not, and will not close. This leaves most partners exposed. While Starbucks have put new policies into play, that doesn’t mitigate the entire risk of catching the virus. Partners and Customers can display no symptoms, while still being able to transmit the virus to others. Instead of waiting until a partners has been exposed or catch the virus, closing all stores would prevent anyone from getting the virus. At this current time, partners are on the frontlines, potentially being exposed and spreading the virus, unknowingly. The moral thing to do, would be to suspend business, while paying partners, until there is a grip on the virus.