Public retail spaces are the front-lines of community spread. It is part-time, minimum wage workers who are being asked to keep those spaces safe – at great personal risk to themselves. I spent eight months trying, and I can attest that none of us were trained for it and those who tried harder faced more abuse. Many of us were pressured to stop doing it by management.
I shared my experience working at Starbucks during the pandemic. My concerns for Covid safety, the pressure from management, the customer harassment I was facing, and the management negligence and corporate malfeasance as I witnessed it.
But, that story is not just mine. With over 13,000 stores across the country, Starbucks employees an estimated 349,000 people in the United States.
Here are a few stories from baristas who were brave enough to speak up about their experience of the pandemic: how the company is endangering them, how customers are treating them, and how scared they are.…