Starbucks workers say their health insurance premiums have soared this year, in some cases more than doubling, according to a recent survey conducted by Starbucks Workers United. The survey of more than 130 Starbucks workers in both unionized and non-unionized stores, shared exclusively with the Guardian, found baristas are experiencing significant hikes in costs for their health insurance coverage starting 1 October. Some workers reported their premium costs per paycheck nearly doubling, even as they struggle to afford other basic necessities andare scheduled to work enough hours to be eligible for the benefits.
The changes come as Starbucks Workers United launched a boycott last month against the company demanding a union contract, what would be the first since stores started to unionize in December 2021. Since then, more than 700 Starbucks stores have won union elections, with the union representing over 12,000 workers at the company. Several workers said they are opting to go without health insurance coverage due to the costs and the price hikes are forcing them to worry about whether they need to find an additional job.
Kaye-Lani Story, who has been a barista in Edina, Minnesota, for nine years, said she took herself and her son to the doctor this month as their health insurance is set to lapse on 1 October. Her health insurance premiums were set to go from $130 a week to $170 a week, a 30% increase. I don’t make enough to keep my medical coverage through work, and so at this point, I just have to drop it completely,” she added.
During the summer, the electric bill goes up from the AC. There are just all these wavering things throughout the year that I have to pull from to be able to apply to expenses just to be able to keep a roof over my head and food on the table and whatnot, and then this happens, and it’s too much.” Cory Wagner has relied on Starbucks’s health insurance for five of the seven years he’s worked as a barista at Starbucks in Woods Cross, Utah, outside Salt Lake City. His health insurance premium cost went from $70 per biweekly paycheck to $122 per paycheck this year.
They have the money to help the partners that are actively making them money.” Starbucks Workers United has filed an unfair labor practice charge after the company did not respond to a request for information on health insurance coverage changes regarding what prompted the fee hikes and how Starbucks’s contribution to the healthcare costs were affected. A Starbucks spokesperson did not comment on the unfair labor practice charge but said in an email “like employers across the country, we continue to face rising healthcare costs while remaining committed to providing quality, affordable healthcare coverage for full and part-time partners at Starbucks, beginning at just 20 hours per week.”
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