As my colleague Laura Clawson has covered at length here at Daily Kos, Starbucks workers are doing an absolutely incredible job of organizing. More than 100 Starbucks locations have voted to unionize under Workers United in the past year alone—yes, there are literally thousands of stores in the nation, but still. Their efforts are incredibly inspiring and life-changing, and clearly, the folks in charge of the company are sweating the movement.
One example? According to a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board, per Bloomberg, Starbucks has started telling baristas that unionizing could cost them gender-affirming health care for trans workers. An openly trans worker at an Oklahoma City Starbucks told the outlet her manager mentioned trans health care benefits in a “veiled threat” while talking about how her benefits could get better, stay the same, or worsen if the store unionized.
”I think the company realizes that we as trans partners feel particularly vulnerable at this time,” Neha Cremin told Bloomberg in an interview. “I think that in some cases they are willing to take advantage of that.” She went on to allege that during a one-on-one meeting, her manager mentioned knowing she specifically had used the trans-inclusive health benefits.
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Another employee, this time based in Pittsburgh, told the outlet that managers held a meeting with her and discussed her plans to receive gender-affirming surgery. The two managers allegedly suggested that she might lose her benefits to do so if she unionized, and asked what she thought would happen if her coworkers didn’t understand the value of such coverage and negotiated for a package without it included. (The worker asked to be anonymous out of fear of retaliation.)
Reggie Borges, who serves as a Starbucks spokesperson, denied these claims to CNBC.
Starbucks, for context, has actually provided some solid gender-affirming health care since back in 2012 and more recently pledged to cover travel costs for folks who had to leave their state to receive gender-affirming care in the wake of anti-trans bills going into law in Republican-controlled states. (The company has promised to provide the same benefit for folks seeking abortions.) The company has gotten a lot of praise and positive attention from the LGBTQ+ community and allies for its trans-inclusive policies.
In the big picture, this is just one of many reasons why health care shouldn’t be tied to our employers. Workers shouldn’t need to feel trapped in a job—or loyal to a job to the point of potentially not unionizing—simply because they’re the only job in the area or field of expertise that offers life-saving health care. It’s great that Starbucks has offered these benefits. Truly! But if employees feel they have to basically keep their mouths closed in order to keep accessing that health care, that is clearly not great.
There’s also the valid concern for many trans folks that switching jobs can be an invitation to receive hate and discrimination. Trans folks report high rates of discrimination when it comes to interviewing for jobs, and many folks also feel they’ve been turned down for opportunities or even lost their jobs because of their gender identity. Not surprisingly, many trans folks also experience homelessness or housing insecurity and are low-income. It’s all connected.
It's fair to assume leaders at Starbucks know the value of what they offer trans workers, and especially how high the stakes are now for access to this precious life-saving care thanks to conservatives trying to stomp it out. But workers should never fear their necessary health care is going to disappear because they dare to organize for better working conditions for all.
Sign the petition: Transgender children deserve all our love, support, and gender-affirming care
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