Medusa

Starbucks Workers Fight For Safe Working Environment

<p>If you visit any big city across the U&period;S&period;&comma; looking for a cup of fresh brewed coffee or a strong espresso&comma; you’ll most likely be a short hop and skip from a Starbucks&period;  The simple yet infamous logo of the twin-tailed mermaid stands out from the rest and you could most likely recognize the stark green details on a white cup from several feet away&period;  Starbucks’ history&comma; starting out as a single coffee roaster and retail store in Seattle circa 1971&comma; has become a genuine &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;rags to riches” story&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Many coffee lovers&comma; yearning for a non-corporate feel&comma; often snub their noses at the multi-million&comma; worldwide corporation and opt to support the non-chain coffee shops that work hard for every cent &lpar;and coffee bean&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center"><img class&equals;"aligncenter" title&equals;"safe working environment" alt&equals;"safe working environment" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;myblogguest&period;com&sol;forum&sol;uploads&sol;articles&sol;2013&sol;8&sol;166114272&period;jpg" width&equals;"370" height&equals;"510" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Similarly&comma; some Starbucks baristas have had enough of the hard work and unsafe working conditions&comma; wishing they could see more compensation for their dedication&period;  Workers&comma; worldwide&comma; from laborers to office assistants are entitled to a safe working environment&semi; the barista&comma; who makes your daily mocha&comma; is no exception&period;  Has one of America’s most popular corporations stopped caring for their employees&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><strong>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Making Coffee is Pretty Easy and Fun&comma; Right&quest;”<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Many loyal customers&comma; who stand in line for up to 10 minutes to get their &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;morning fix”&comma; may or may not understand the physical and mental well-being that is needed for each 16 oz&period; skim milk&comma; sugar-free vanilla latte&period;  Being a barista can be draining&comma; physically and mentally&period;  The average barista&comma; on a regularly busy shift&comma; stands for hours on a food service regulated floor &lpar;usually a hard tile&rpar; and sometimes even proper footwear and stress mats don’t completely absorb and cushion the stress and strain on feet&comma; knees&comma; and lower backs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Baristas are often at risk for wrist strain and carpel tunnel due to the rigorous and repetitive motion of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;tamping” the freshly ground espresso&comma; which is needed for each espresso based drink&period;  A sore and tired body&comma; at the end of the day&comma; is just &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;part of the trade” for many baristas&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In an interview with 475 various coffee shop workers&comma; many workers revealed that they had work-related stress injuries&period;  Of the workers surveyed&comma; 47&percnt; had experienced upper body repetitive stress injuries&comma; 20&percnt; had experienced heart palpitations or chest pains &lpar;from too much coffee&rpar;&comma; and 62&percnt; believed that their job or required caffeine intake &lpar;for sampling&sol;quality control&rpar;&comma; caused emotional issues such as depression&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Even if baristas are equipped with stress mats and an occasional much needed break&comma; baristas are not generally offered health insurance or benefits&period;  Of the workers interviewed&comma; the number of workers who had no health insurance or benefits offered to them outweighed the number who actually did&period;  Additionally&comma; many baristas find that they are unable to take time off when ill due to the simple fact that they cannot afford to take time off of their job&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><strong>Treat Your Barista Right<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Many employers and customers&comma; alike&comma; might ask&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If the job is so bad&comma; why don’t you quit&quest;”  However&comma; if you ask the majority of baristas&comma; they don’t quit because they love the job&period;  The wages are typically low&comma; but with a loyal customer base and a true talent of making a beautiful and strong latte&comma; tips keep many baristas financially afloat&period;  Starbucks and independent coffee shop workers&comma; alike&comma; are at risk for work-related injuries and often do not receive proper compensation for their hard work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>According to Starbucks&comma; eligible full and part-time employees were first offered full health benefits in 1988&period;  The members of the Starbucks Workers Union&comma; however&comma; have a different experience with those so-called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;health benefits”&period;  According to the union members&comma; Starbucks insures 42&percnt; of its workers&comma; but with many stipulations&period;  Starbucks employees must work 240 hours per quarter to qualify to purchase health care through the company&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not all workers are assured working hours to qualify and premiums&comma; co-pays&comma; and deductibles are very costly&comma; especially on the average barista’s wage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><strong>Leaders in Coffee Should Lead By Example<&sol;strong><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>In a work environment&comma; where workers risk their physical well-being&comma; proper and affordable health care is important and well-deserved&period;  Whether a barista suffers from carpel tunnel or a severe burn from the steam wand&comma; he&sol;she may have to shell out a lot of hard-earned tips to pay for their medical expenses&period; The founders of Starbucks know the value of hard work and a dream&comma; especially considering the success of their corporation &lpar;17&comma;651 stores and counting&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>They should treat their dedicated and hardworking employees with the same respect that is brewed with the company’s name every day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h5>Featured images&colon;<&sol;h5>&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"license">License&colon; Image author owned<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Jacob Masters is a freelance writer and author who has worked in the health industry for over a decade&period; His goal in life is to increase the internet knowledge base one article at a time&period; He also likes to push the boundaries through his city wide evening excursions as a guerilla gardener&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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