Starbucks workers are sick of unfair treatment and are on strike in multiple states, including Oregon. Baristas threatened to keep this strike going in their “largest, longest” effort to receive better wages and hours. On top of this, they’re fighting to address the unfair labor practices workers face every day. Now, several baristas banded together in Oregon to share their personal stories and the reasons why they’re on strike, using a silly trend.
TikToker Lizzy’s video showcased several Starbucks workers engaging in the ‘trauma candy’ trend together. You say you piece, then dump your favorite candy into a bowl, then pass it on. In this case, the group shared the reason they’re on strike. Hearing their horrible and disheartening reasons, if they’re true, is enough to understand why Starbucks’s employees have been continuously on strike for several years. Among the baristas sharing their stories, one woman says she had to involve the US Health Department. When her co-worker couldn’t come into work because of diarrhea, their manager made them go into work anyway.
Another woman says her hours were cut so dramatically that she won’t be able to afford her next semester of college. Others say they can’t access healthcare coverage while working at Starbucks. One especially concerning statement comes from a worker who states, “My store manager used my private medical information as gossip.”
Commenters—many of whom are and were Starbucks employees, too—decided to jump in and share their own stories. One commenter announced, “Oooh, I wanna play! My Starbucks manager fired a single mother of 5 bc she lost her transportation and I brought the sour patch watermelons.”
Another commenter asked, “The CFO flies back and forth between NYC and Seattle 3 times a week on a private jet on the company dime and they can’t give employees healthcare?”
It’s truly alarming what these major company CEOs say they can and can’t do. You would think those billions of dollars in annual profits would give something back to employees. But it never really happens that way.
At least there’s solidarity among Starbucks’s employees. At the end, the women stand together with their “trauma candy” bowl and announce, “Don’t cross the picket line!”
