Starbucks Employees Urge the Company to Temporarily Close Its Coffee Shops

Thats the question asked by a asking the coffee behemoth to close in the face of global pandemic. Starbucks should suspend all business hours, at every location, it reads, while continuing to pay hourly and salary workers, during the spread of the coronavirus.

In case you hadnt realized, the company many of its locations to to go, removing all seating while keeping open its drive-thru and mobile ordering options. Its also reduced operating hours in some areas with clusters of Covid-19. It also expanded what it calls catastrophe pay for anyone affected by the virus.

For many Starbucks workers, thats not enough. The petition argues that because the virus is airborne, even increased cleaning and sanitation isnt likely to prevent its spread. That puts both workers and customers at risk. With many stores located near hospitals, which are not closed during the pandemic, Starbucks employees may be even more at risk.

With limited testing available, and the fact that people without symptoms can be infected and spread the virus, Starbucks partners (as it insists on calling them) could be making the outbreak worse. The moral thing to do, the petition concludes, would be to suspend business, while paying partners, until there is a grip on the virus.

Coffee is not essential at all. Starbucks is not essential, Anyia Johnsonm, the author of the petition and a barista in Philadelphia, told . And yet were still open. The petition seems to have struck a chord: in less than a week, its gathered nearly 35,000 signatures.