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Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 10:24 AM Sep 2020

Damn this is hard to get past the paralysis of what this personally means for our family -

This:




Aside from recognition of our marriage, my spouse's legal relationship with her daughter flows directly from the Obergefell decision. (We are the only appellate same-gender parent adoption case in Ohio - we lost expressly becuase our marriage was not legally recognized. Shortly after the Obergefell decision my spouse was able to adopt our, by then, adult daughter.)

And much more urgently - the ACA is what keeps my daughter alive. Her billed medical care is $200,000 per year, ironically part of that is screening to catch two of the diseases that took RBG from us. The lower court found the ACA unconstitutional. If there is a tie vote, the lower court decision holds. If Trump/McConnel succeed in ramming an appointment through it would likely be worse - as an affirmative declaration that it is unconstitutional.

I'll sit and mourn RBG, and all of the other losses that flow directly or indirectly from her passing, and then I have to move past paralysis to stopping the damage being done to our (collectively) lives and our country.

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Damn this is hard to get past the paralysis of what this personally means for our family - (Original Post) Ms. Toad Sep 2020 OP
In much the same condition... regnaD kciN Sep 2020 #1
Mine is now 30 - Ms. Toad Sep 2020 #3
My daughter worked at Starbucks for over two years when she was in college. MoonchildCA Sep 2020 #4
My daughter had heard that rumor - Ms. Toad Sep 2020 #5
Well, it has been 10 years since she worked there, so maybe they have changed the policy. MoonchildCA Sep 2020 #6
My daughter hasn't had to cover her shifts when ill. Ms. Toad Sep 2020 #8
I'm glad your daughter has had a good experience with Starbucks. crickets Sep 2020 #9
Our group is the odd one out. Ms. Toad Sep 2020 #11
The ACA issue is leaving a pit in my stomach. demmiblue Sep 2020 #2
Same here. crickets Sep 2020 #7
Medicare for me ... ananda Sep 2020 #10

regnaD kciN

(26,035 posts)
1. In much the same condition...
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 10:34 AM
Sep 2020

Our college-age son needs medical care. At the moment, he’s on our policy until he’s 26. Abolish the ACA, and he’s suddenly on his own…and neither he nor we could afford to pay for those costs out-of-pocket.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
3. Mine is now 30 -
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 10:43 AM
Sep 2020

For now - have him get a job at Starbucks if he can work. Access to insurance starts at 25 hours/week after three months of employment, and the plans are cheap and good. Since they offer insurance at fewer hours than full time, it is less likely to vanish than insurance that requires 32 hours/week to obtain.

Every single time they attack it, it is devastating. It just never ends. My daughter was terrified when the supreme court agreed to hear it - thinking that it might be decided before she had insurance through Starbucks. That was easy to quell - this next attack, less so.

MoonchildCA

(1,301 posts)
4. My daughter worked at Starbucks for over two years when she was in college.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 10:58 AM
Sep 2020

Neither she, nor her coworkers were ever able to get enough hours on average to qualify for insurance. Only those in management had it. If they worked over that amount in one week, they would throw them only one shift the following week to make up for it.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
5. My daughter had heard that rumor -
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 11:10 AM
Sep 2020

So we asked before she started working there - and at the store she is working at everyone said there was no issue getting enough hours.

My daughter started March 1 of this year - and she worked 40+ hours a week through the pandemic. She's lower now - but still over the 25 - and because of the uncertainty of hours (and a change to blocks rather than overlapping shifts), they have temporarily lowered the average number of hours.

Sounds like she had a bad store, or the policy has changed (since the rumors of not enough hours was still around in February when my daughter interviewed). Around here, they are fantastic. Anyone who did not want to work through the pandemic was permitted not to (and paid) for over 2 months; those who worked were paid a $3/hour bonus. Until they went to block shifts, via the Starbucks employee network my daughter was able to pick up as many extra shifts as she wanted - and they often approved overtime for her.

I've been really impressed with their employee relations (and, frankly, jealous . . . my university notified me of my pay cut by publishing it in the newspaper - when jobs were at risk at Starbucks each employee had an individual meeting with management to discuss the options (one of which included time off without pay - BUT - with Starucks paying the employee's share of health insurance)).

MoonchildCA

(1,301 posts)
6. Well, it has been 10 years since she worked there, so maybe they have changed the policy.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 11:25 AM
Sep 2020

Also, it could have been regional. She did have a questionable district manager, who I think was let go a year or two later.
She knew most of the employees in our area, as they often covered shifts at different stores. Another difficult thing they had to deal with is if they had to call in sick, they had a list of all the employees in the area and had to call around to cover their own shift.
I remember once, my daughter was so sick, she could barely get out of bed, and she had to call around forever before she found someone. That was really stressful.

I'm glad to hear things have improved. She sought out the job after high school, because she had heard they were a good company to work for.

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
8. My daughter hasn't had to cover her shifts when ill.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 11:36 AM
Sep 2020

She had a high fever just after starting (which, of course, freaked us out - since it was at the stage when they had just started closing things). She just went back to sleep after she called in. Her symptoms vanished within a day (on tamiflu), and she was able to go back to work after being fever-free for 48 hours.

At a minimum, it seems like their shift-covering system is better.

crickets

(25,896 posts)
9. I'm glad your daughter has had a good experience with Starbucks.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 11:44 AM
Sep 2020

It's great that her store is treating their employees well, especially at a time like this. I am sorry to hear about your pay cut. The university notified everyone through the paper? That was unprofessional and mean. 😕

Ms. Toad

(33,915 posts)
11. Our group is the odd one out.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 02:37 PM
Sep 2020

We are not represented by a bargaining unit, so we are the first cut, the last to get a raise, etc.

All other units received 4 raises in the period from 2013 to present. In lieu of one they gave us a week extra of vacation (but my workload is too heavy to take even the vacation I already have). In lieu of the second, they gave us a one-time $1,000 bonus (so it isn't added into our base salary they way other groups were - so it's the gift that keeps on (not) giving.

So with this COVID cut, announced first in the paper - we were (again) cut earlier than everyone else - so, except for the fact that I have received 2 promotions since 2013, my pay would now be lower than in 2013. The personal notification came more than a month after the cut, deposited in my work mailbox to which I have access to only because I'm high enough up to be able to have permission to enter the building during the COVID lock-out. Those without special access got personal notice (in their work mailboxes) about 2 months after the fact.

And, adding insult to injury, the cuts were described as equal across the board - but what they meant was equal dollar amount for each group. So our group, which has fewer members than any other group, received a 3-10% cut, while the other groups received a maximum of 1% cut.

I pointed out to the dean that the university needed to take management lessons from Starbucks - since they are treating their (largely) non-degreed $10/hour work force with significantly more respect that the University treated their (largely) 2-degreed salaried staff. He agreed, but also has no authority to change it. I suggested even an email (cost:$0), mail merged with each of our names to quasi-personalize it - sent 24 hours before the press release would have been more respectful.

Not that I'm bitter or anything. (I work about 100 hours a week. I'm writing this on a short break between giving my students an exam simulation for the bar exam that is about 2 weeks out. Tomorrow is a repeat. Obviously, I'm not doing it for the money - I'm doing it for my students. But it would be nice to be treated as a valued employee.)

crickets

(25,896 posts)
7. Same here.
Sat Sep 19, 2020, 11:32 AM
Sep 2020

Without it, I will have no insurance -- none that I can afford anyway. I can eke by as long as there is no catastrophic illness coming my way.

But I am so afraid for all of the people who simply cannot survive without it. It's so tragic and unnecessary to leave them with no way to pay for medical care that keeps them alive. It's just wrong.

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