The Bethel, Stockbridge and Rochester School Boards collected bids earlier this school year to hire private companies to run the food service programs and buses next year. In part citing state law (Act 153) and a need to cut costs, the school boards appear they may follow through and hire private companies next year instead of keeping the jobs employed by the school. Eliminating school-run programs to save a few dollars and in the process cutting the jobs of loyal food service and transportation employees is not fair. Act 153 does require individual school districts to move all transportation decisions for students from the districts to the Supervisory Union, but it does not require the hiring of a private company. Act 153 encourages Supervisory Unions to find ways to be as cost effective and efficient as possible with transportation expenses. Private companies cannot guarantee to offer to do the work for less than what the Supervisory Union pays as a direct employer without cutting corners, wages and benefits. Most of our school food service and transportation employees are long-term, loyal and committed employees. These staff members have played by the rules and worked hard for the districts. These employees often go above and beyond what they’re expected to do, especially for students in need. As members of the East Branch Education Association and Upper Valley Education Association, they’ve negotiated fairly with the school boards since a union formed over 15 years ago (Stockbridge 8 years ago). These employees are hourly workers. No one in these positions gets paid days they do not work during school year or receives unemployment over the summer. These people are our hard working neighbors with many not even making a livable wage. Farming out the work to a private company removes local control and authority over the hiring/supervision of employees who will be in our schools and driving our buses. Plus, using private companies to do the work currently done by the school districts does not guarantee that the work will be cheaper for the Supervisory Union. In fact, companies such as Butler Transportation, are in business to make money/profit. While a bid may come in lower to do the work, it usually means a cut in services or benefits/wages to the workers or both. Any short-term “deal” made with Butler or another company to hire current school-employed bus drivers (or food service workers) does not bind that employer long-term to keep the same wages/benefits for that individual. Again, these are businesses looking to make a profit, unlike our schools. If companies cut services or reduce the quality of school food program or transportation services, our students feel the impact. Private companies running food or transportation services in Vermont often offer no paid sick days or offer health insurance, making the jobs even less livable for working people, causing turn over in staff. High turnover in our kitchens and with our bus drivers hurts the relationships staff have with students. Ask the employees and/or parents of students in communities who use private companies like the Abbey Group or Butler Transportation. Low standards for the food program and transportation department and its employees are not consistent with our community’s values.

We are part-time retail employees who work for one of the most reputable outdoor retailers and cooperatives in the country, Recreational Equipment, Inc. REI is known not only for its remarkable stewardship of the outdoors, but also for its down to earth image as a retailer that ‘authentically’ values its people—an image REI prides itself on and one which distinguishes the co-op from other large scale retailers. The truth of the matter is that a huge number of us are struggling with considerable hardship. We have tried to address our grim circumstances internally, but our corporate leaders and store mangers have turned a blind eye to our outcries. Although REI has enjoyed record profits for the last 3 years, hardship has become a way of life for most of us. While we comprise a vast majority of the retail positions at REI’s 145 and growing stores, none of us receive any real guarantees whatsoever. Such benefits are reserved for the very few full-time positions offered at REI. One of the primary causes for our hardship are the irregular hours we are subject to—ranging from 4 hours to 30 to 12 hours a week (or none at all)—making it nearly impossible for most of us to make ends meet. Another contributing factor is the lack of full-time opportunity that exists for REI’s retail employees. Very few store workers actually work full-time. For instance, in a store that is staffed with nearly 200 workers, only about 14 of these workers (outside of management positions) are guaranteed full-time hours. For the rest of us, we are at the mercy of REI’s frequent payroll cutbacks and its variable scheduling practices. None of REI’s part-time employees are guaranteed hours—not even 4 hours a week—because that is REI’s store policy. To exacerbate matters, employees are negatively impacted when REI hires more part-time workers during seasonal upswings in business, even though there are plenty of existing workers who are not getting enough hours. While REI claims that it has to hire more part-time employees to meet expected business demands, this is not true. There are many dedicated workers who desperately need to work more, but REI will not accommodate them. REI’s reluctance to make this commitment to its workforce, also impacts the few meaningful benefits that we could be eligible for, like health insurance. While REI boasts it offers health insurance to its part-time workforce, only employees who work a rolling average of 20 hours a week can receive it. Those employees who qualify for coverage can just as easily lose it, simply because of the frequent payroll cutbacks made at REI. Last year alone, we witnessed a large number of distressed colleagues who were fraught with panic, after they learned REI was dropping their coverage. As a united voice, we are demanding that REI make a commitment to its employees by giving us stable hours, offering us more full-time opportunity and putting an end to the practice of over-staffing its stores with so many part-time employees—that hardly any of us can get the hours we need to make ends meet. In addition, it is imperative that REI addresses our low wages. In light that we were told part-time employees would not be eligible for a Living Wage, our hardship is a testament that one is needed. When most REI part-time employees are starting at a wage of just over $10 an hour and it will take an estimated 20 years to earn a Living Wage, REI is not doing enough to provide for the well-being of its employees. Finally, part-time employees are requesting 3 weeks advance scheduling notice from the store managers who are responsible for scheduling. Typically employees receive a one weeks notice and this is not nearly enough time for those employees who need to plan for daycare, a second job, or school. We believe no REI employee should have to take desperate measures in order to survive their jobs at the REI Co-op. When employees are seeking emergency assistance from state and federal funded programs like food stamps, donating plasma to blood banks, participating in risky pharmaceutical experiments, living off credit cards and student loans, selling off their belongings or relying on loving parents to bail them out—REI is not doing enough to take care of its workforce. We’re tired of witnessing our colleagues in great despair at work (sometimes to the point of tears), after their hours have been reduced so drastically that they don’t know how they’re going to survive. To drive our message home, here’s a glimpse into what employees were saying after REI’s extraordinary #OptOutside campaign was announced last year. One employee stated, “I’m glad I’ll have at least one paid day in November (Black Friday).” Others exclaimed: “Are there any of us who can actually afford to get outside to our favorite outdoor spaces on Black Friday?” and “REI expects me to be stoked about #OptOutside, I can’t even afford a turkey for Thanksgiving!” That was our #OptOutside reality when REI’s amazing campaign took media by storm. With the support of our loyal members and the sympathetic guests who shop at REI, retail employees are demanding that REI authentically value us and treat us like the myth #OptOutside created. Hardship should not be a way of life for any of REI’s fiercely dedicated workers. Moreover, it was not the vision that our co-founders, Mary & Lloyd Anderson, had intended for us. It is time the REI Co-op revisit its roots as a true cooperative and value all its employees as much as the outdoors it is renown for preserving. #OptInChange for REI’s friendly green-vested ‘Inspired Guides’—The Andersons (the name we’ve adopted in honor of our co-founders, to represent all REI's working-class heroes). Thank you for your support!

This is important because Starbucks has already taken away our 6month raises. Very high expectations and we all work our butts off at work! It is very discouraging!

This is important because long time partners such as myself have grown with and supported the company through all its many changes over the years. We have been faithful and worked hard to make the company what it is today.

Starbucks is positioned as a leader in the fast food/service industry, and consequently bears a responsibility to make fair decisions regarding compensation and benefits to its employees.

When partners don't show, it puts a lot of pressure on the present baristas to make every moment matter. If we have an incentive for working hard while a partner is missing, were more determined to push through and work hard.

Like so many of you out there, my store is my home away from home. Having worked at three different locations, I've been able to understand the ins and outs of different stores and the varying demands each store has based on its business and volume. Before I transferred to my current store, my last store earned on average $2,200-3,000 a day. The store I'm at currently makes anywhere from $7-9000 a day. To say that we should all be held to the same standard is wishful thinking. From a company standards perspective, yes this is true. From a monetary standpoint, absolutely not. Shift supervisors working at incredibly high volume stores are not currently being paid their worth. Being responsible for a team of 8 or 9 people at any given time, not to mention driving sales, and constantly having to call facilities because everything in the store keeps breaking is a daily occurrence for me and I'm sure for countless others out there. Free drinks and one free food item are nice, but they don't do anything for those of us who don't drink coffee or for those who bring their lunches to work. Most of the time, I'm lucky if I even get a break because something has broken or a computer has crashed or something has pulled me away from any sort of break I might need to keep my sanity. Feeling like I'm not going to work in vain is why I'm writing this letter. I know I'm not the only one who feels as though they are not appreciated, not paid enough, is overworked, and constantly chasing their tail while getting paid an amount that can barely cover rent. If our store managers earn a pay increase for managing higher volume stores as well as receiving a QUARTERLY bonus for the success of their store, then shouldn't the supervisors who help them achieve these goals be given bonuses or pay increases as well?

It's more important that UberSelect drivers make money than receive more calls that don't give them the opportunity to make a profit. I understand Uber wants to keep UberSelect drivers busy driving but at who's cost?

With the latest rate cuts, the fares are so ridiculously low that many rides - especially the shorter ones - now only earn the driver only $2–$3. By reinstating the minimum fare, these rides will increase the drivers’ portion to a more reasonable amount to at least cover expenses.

Our schedules constantly change, many of us struggle to get enough work hours, we can't plan our lives around our jobs, and we find it difficult if not impossible to call out sick because of the difficulty of finding coverage. These things contribute to a stressful work environment and decrease morale at our stores. We've seen great, hardworking coworkers leave the company for these reasons. We, the baristas of Starbucks, experience these things firsthand, and we are the very people within the company who should be proposing solutions. We want to talk to Howard Schultz in person, and have a conversation about how we can move forward together to make Starbucks better. Please sign on in support!

We believe that moving to a CAP system will restore much of the lost and damaged AFL brand by increasing the respect and value of players, fans and sponsors. A CAP system helps teams to compete for talent in a way that drives all involved towards the best and most valuable market solution thereby delivering the highest probability of success with competition driving all involved to a higher standard.

I am spending hours on the road in prime business location at ideal times and losing income in the moment b/c the uber app is failing to function normally. the uber app often loses fares and fails do disclose fares for my record keeping purposes. sometimes these failures are due to pending updates, sometimes uber knows but doesn't tell drivers that the app isn't working. all of this costs drivers in many ways. Uber should be responsible for these losses and should disclose the functional status of the app at any given time