For example, they said credit card tipping, which was advocated for by the union, was implemented in other locations but not the Stoddar d Starbucks. Since the union election, Rutkowski said Starbucks has made desired changes to many stores but not unionized locations. Starbucks’ union-busting efforts have gone beyond cutting hours, Rutkow ski said. “It really hurts the students, especially at a time like this when we need to be able to support students instead of making their lives more difficult or adding just another thing on top of their daily stressors,” Christen sen said. They said waiting 30 minutes for a cup of coffee is “outrageous” and the opposite of what students need in times of stress. “We all don’t have the hours that we want, but anytime that we’re on the floor, we also don’t have the staffing that w e want.”Ĭhristensen said the store’s understaffing impacts its patrons who are primarily MSU students. “All of us have our availability, and all of us are under hours,” Rutkowski. Rutkowski said in a job measured by performance, decreased hours for workers have created a counterproductive system of under-staffing and hi gh demand. “I don’t make enough money to afford both being in college and going to class every day and then working the hours that I could be working,” Christense n said. Likewise, Christensen said they've struggled financially due to their reduce d hours. Living paycheck-to-paycheck, Rutkowski said, has taken a toll on their personal life because they can’t afford to spend their income for persona l enjoyment. Rutkowski, who left MSU to finish their final year online at Arizona State University (all Starbucks workers are eligible for free tuition for online enrollment at ASU), said they couldn’t afford to pay rent for the last two months due to their lack of hours. “We’re at the point of really being defeated by this,” Rutkows ki said. Portrait of political science pre-law senior Caleb Christensen taken at the MSU Library on March 30, 2023.Ĭhristensen and Rutkowski said many workers already have a foot out of the door, either waiting for the store to dissolve or for another job opportunity. “Three more people are leaving by the time you’ve convince d one.” “When new people come in, you have to convince them that the union is a good idea,” Christensen said. Political science pre-law senior Caleb Christensen, another barista at the Stoddard Starbucks, said they believe the corporation is attempting to create a “revolving door” for unionized stores, which adds a layer of difficulty for union advocates and organizers. “To provide additional schedule flexibility for our partners, we also provide partners the ability to view and pick-up additional shifts at their home store and other stores within their district.” “Partner work schedules are published on a regular, rolling basis three-weeks in advance and are built based on recorded partner availability and the unique operational needs of each store,” a spokesperson said in the email. In an email statement, a Starbucks spokesperson said partner work schedules are produced three weeks in advance, taking into account the operational demands of each store in addition to the availability of each partner. Portrait of political science sophomore Cora Fontana taken at the Minskoff Pavilion on March 30, 2023. “Most of the time that we’re working, we only have three to four people on the floor for a majority of the shifts,” Fontana s aid. They described the store’s staffing situation as “tight.” Political science sophomore Cora Fontana said they used to work 16 to 22 hours a week at the Grand River Starbucks but now is consistently scheduled for just 5-10 hours. “We don’t have as many people on the floor as a different store just because corporate isn’t giving us those hour s to use.” “As a worker that was there before the union, I’ve seen the decrease in hours, a decrease in staffing,” Rutkowski said. Since then, they said the workers’ hours have decreased, leaving the store short-staffed and some workers turning to other work. Human development and family studies senior Lydia Rutkowski started working at the Stoddard Starbucks before the union election. Later, in June, the workers elected to be represented by Starbucks Workers United with a 19- 0 vote. In March 2022, workers at the store announced they would be filing for a union election. Workers at the Grand River Avenue and Stoddard Starbucks in East Lansing said their hours have been reduced in recent months in efforts by the corporation to increase the store’s turnover rate and, ultimately, impact its status as a union store.
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