OPINIONS

6October 13, 2022 OPINIONS

Editor: Maria Odenbaugh viewpoints.opinions@gmail.com

STEPHEN DAY | VIEWPOINTS Starbucks on Market St. in Riverside. This location is not unionized. There are currently zero unionized Starbucks locations in Riverside County.

Starbucks continues union busting

Struggle continues amidst corporate pushback, deserves solidarity

MARIA ODENBAUGH OPINIONS EDITOR

I’ve been a Starbucks employee for nearly a year. This past year my confidence has risen immensely and I’ve learned to put myself out there gaining many great relationships.

I love my 4:30 a.m. opening shifts. I love the feeling of being one of the first people in someone’s day. I love the slowness of the store before the rush. It’s encouraging and puts a smile on my face watching people start their days.

However, respect is hard to come by as a Starbucks employee. As much as I love helping others start their day, sometimes we are only seen as machines. Machines who struggle with earning the respect from not only customers but the high all mighty’s of the corporation system.

I praise my job to anyone who asks, but I am never praising the Starbucks brand. I may not be a part of a unionized store but I understand the need for collective bargaining.

Representation is crucial for pushing for higher wages, better benefits and scheduling.

Over the past two years, over 200 corporate stores in the United States voted to unionize. That’s not a huge number considering there are 9,000 company operated stores nationwide but, that number gives hope and starts a movement.

Instead of listening and helping their employees find their voice, Starbucks engaged in alleged illegal tactics to consistently bust up union attempts.

The National Labor Union Relations Board (NLRB) accused Starbucks of using suspect methods to eventually shut down their unionized stores. These strategies included raising wages, providing more benefits and closing stores.

Active organizing union stores were fully closed to threaten the workers. The temporary closing was deemed because of safety reasons but instead took away multiple labor hours from the baristas.

Starbucks never listened to its partners, instead they induced a range of activities to abruptly stop the idea of employees making the important decisions. Decisions that directly impact the employees.

These tactics began at the first stores to petition to unionize in Buffalo, New York.

What Starbucks did to the Buffalo stores took away the hope the employees worked so hard for.

If Starbucks continues these reactions they leave no room for baristas to continue to enjoy and progress in their jobs.

They denied all accusations of union busting, however they continue to oppose unionization efforts.

Recently, Senators sent a letter to CEO Howard Schultz urging them to, “listen to the voices of your partners who are joining together to create a fairer and safer workplace for all Starbucks employees by voluntarily recognizing unionization efforts and actively pursuing a nationwide agreement to provide coverage for all Starbucks employees.” If the U.S. Senate can acknowledge the movement, it’s time Schultz realizes he will be on the wrong side of a historic labor movement.

The corporation must be held accountable for the illegal tactics they use constantly put pressure on union employees. However, we can not rely on the NLRB to win this fight. Partners need to build unity, spread the word and plan more strikes.

I love my job but I am fearful I won’t have any representation without unionizing.

To all the union employees who worked so hard the past couple of years, you are heard and the hope you gave me and other baristas is still there.

District Phishing attacks run amok

Cybersecurity needs to be ramped up, supported and monitored

JOHN MICHAEL GUERRERO MULTIMEDIA EDITOR & SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Cybersecurity should be one of many priorities for the Riverside City College District.

We live in an age of technology, so proportionally, there should be an equal emphasis by the District to protect the interests and privacy of students, faculty and specialized workers. Very little is brought up regarding Information Technology or cybersecurity at Board of Trustees meetings, with the latest mention of them at the BOT meeting occuring March 7 regarding a cybersecurity initiative.

The amount of attention they have put into cybersecurity has only led to many empty promises.

If RCCD put more time and money into the Technological Support Services (TSS) Department, there would be less technological issues.

Many times they have stated issues with understaffing at various BOT meetings, which leads to a larger demand than they can properly offer and tackle.

Lately, there has been an increase in phishing and Personal Identifiable Information (PII) attacks.

Phishing emails aim to masquerade as a reputable company, business or institution,

MARKUS SPISKE | UNSPLASH

like Riverside City College, to “farm” personal information. Many Outlook accounts continue to suffer from these phishing attacks, with the latest targeting many students in the District claiming, “We received a request from you to terminate your Office 365 email. This process has begun by our administrator.” A link to “take action” and reverse this process was present. Although this issue was soon resolved via an email to students by RCCD, it goes to show how vulnerable our district is cybersecurity-wise.

PII attacks are another common attack that many students may see on their Outlook email. These emails aim at being a trustworthy source that intends to “employ” a given target to a real-life company or business.

These attacks are particularly dangerous to vulnerable community college students, many of whom survive financially week to week. This may lead many to take up the offers to turn a quick buck, and in turn lead them to complete various fraudulent transactions — leaving them in hot water with their bank.

In order to lower the risks of cybersecurity issues in the future the District should come together with the TSS to discuss ongoing technological issues and needed district-wide upgrades.

The District should also overhaul every non-upgraded device on all three campuses. More often than not, a computer may be running out-of-date software which leaves it vulnerable for multiple types of cyber attacks.

Just like how each department at a college is treated with importance in relation to the students, faculty and specialized faculty, TSS plays a huge role in protecting and securing our district.