Airport Starbucks workers face big racial pay disparity, this week in the war on workers

Starbucks bills itself as a good employer—and sometimes it lives up to that. But not all Starbucks locations are operated by Starbucks, and UNITE HERE has released a damning report on pervasive discrimination and harassment at 142 Starbucks locations operated by HMSHost in 27 airports. Median pay for black baristas is $1.85 less than for white baristas at these locations, and claims that it’s about tenure on the job don’t hold up. In Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, for instance, “There were three Black baristas with more seniority than one of the white baristas who made $2.50 an hour less than that white barista. Another white barista who had only 4 months more seniority than one of the Black baristas made $3.17 an hour more.”

In contrast to Starbucks’ image as an LGBTQ-friendly company, workers at the HMSHost Starbucks report widespread harassment, misgendering, and transphobia. LGBTQ workers aren’t the only ones facing harassment: “More than 1 in 4 immigrant workers surveyed at HMSHost Starbucks have been told to stop speaking their preferred language by managers at work.” Starbucks is failing these workers.

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This Day in Labor History: February 27, 1869. The great workplace health and safety reformer Alice Hamilton was born. Let's talk about this amazing woman who did so much to save workers' lives! pic.twitter.com/92CNoAAHPU

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