Month: December 2025

There are several pros and cons to labor unions on many different levels. In some industries, unions can be very helpful and are almost required to ensure smooth employee communications and HR policies for the company. However, there are also some industries where unions are about the worst thing that employees can think about, like in most of retail, whether it be because the union is the issue and is taking advantage of the companies and/or employees, or because the company is of an anti-union mindset and makes things intentionally hard for the union based employees but not its non-union employees. This type of thinking is true in the example of Starbuck’s. In 2021, stores in the Buffalo, NY area voted to unionize during the pandemic due to wanting to be heard about health and safety and better pay and benefits during the pandemic. This had years of arguments and dirty tactics from the company about terminating employees, not raising pay for unionized employees and almost refusing to negotiate pay, and more. This is the mindset that a lot of retail organizations have as they want you to believe that they have your best interest in mind and adding other people can create more issues. This is sometimes true, there are definitely unions out there that are always up to no good and not there for the employee. However, unions are not always bad, even though they are not perfect immune to being poisoned. I spoke to my parents and brother, who have all worked for the K-8 school system as certified and classified staff, and in these instances, unions are definitely more helpful than harmful. In their unions, they do have people that do shady things and turn the other way to let people get away with things, which is the case not only in unions, but also happens in the businesses themselves, but also are there to make sure that the employees interests really are in the best place at the company and to make sure that they are taken care of if anything were to happen. With all this, I am not sure if I would insist on joining a union or not, it really just depends on the circumstances and the company and job. I would say that you should always just make sure that you are gathering all the information so that you are aware of everything going on and can always make informed decisions.

Jeanie Kirby, Kevin Kirby, Derek Kirby, Personal Communication, December 7, 2025

Pros and Cons of Labor Unions

USA: Starbucks accused of ‘anti-union’ campaign following union drive across stores; incl. company comments – Business and Human Rights Centre

In my younger years, I always just believed and assumed that stress did not impact me and that I would always just move forward. As I have gotten older, and have learned through different situations in life, both good and bad, as well as learning how to deal with ADD/ADHD throughout life, that stress not impacting is simply not the case. After taking the Coping and Stress Management test and the Type A Personality survey, I found out that I am secretly harboring more stress than I realize,….. and want to admit is there,….. as well as I tend to ignore it and try to focus on more important things. This is not always the healthiest nor best thing mentally to do, and doing so can do much more harm than good in the future. I was actually a little surprised at the amount of stress, and how high the Type A personality score was. I have made great strides over the last 5 years or so to mature and not be the person that I was 10-15 years ago, however, it appears that I need to focus more deep down as well instead of just on the surface. Over the last 5 year or so, but mainly since 2020 when the pandemic started, there has been a huge focus on companies assisting employees with mental health, substance abuse, physical wellness, financial wellness, and other similar programs. Many larger companies have implemented most if not all additional wellness programs that are available for employees to help them throughout difficult times. Where I currently work, they offer tuition assistance, financial assistance and counseling, mental health assistance, and several other programs to help make sure that your whole being is taken care of instead of just offering traditional insurance. This has helped the mood and outlook of work change drastically because it shows employees that companies are willing to invest in their greatest asset, employees, during difficult and uncertain times to help them be taken care of instead of just replacing them if something were to happen, which was common years ago as a mindset.