I remember when I was young, working at a restaurant and riding the bus there, in a small city with terrible public transit, and being given split shifts with 4 hours in between the shifts. I complained to management that I couldn’t even get home in those 4 hours because the bus schedule didn’t allow me to get back in time if I did, due to infrequent stops, and that they were making me hang out for 4 hours in the break room unpaid. They promised to quit doing it and then like 2 weeks later went right back to it so I quit without notice or even really telling them.

The first day I actually missed was orientation for the job I replaced them with, and they actually called me during orientation, and asked me if I was coming in and I got to tell them that I wasn’t because I was busy at job orientation, which was at least pretty satisfying.

I worked three years for Alamo Drafthouse, was hired full time and had very little issues at first. I was making 36-40 hours a week because I was the most experienced bartender they had for a while, at least at the service bar… But then I got sick with strep and in a two month period missed two weeks of work. Nothing I could do about it. I caught strep for the first time SINCE I WAS 5 YEARS OLD. No idea how I managed it but I did, and I was forced to miss a week due to health code rules. A few weeks later it comes back a second time and I miss another week.

Because of how Alamo does their benefits, using am averaging system to determine who is worthy of benefits, I was literally 1 hour below the average threshold… no problem! I had all month to catch back up and all I had to do was work 4 41 hours weeks and I would be caught up.

So I was doing everything I could, talked to one of the manager and she said she would make sure I get the hours I need to qualify for health insurance!

But the other manager must have had something against me, as other managers maliciously cut me EVERY night despite my protest.

I walked out them in the middle of a shift as soon as I got a job elsewhere.

Fuck Alamo Drafthouse, they have not been the same since Tim Leugue gave 60% of the shares to Private Equity firms.

My union has a lot of problems, but getting shifts based on seniority is an absolute game changer. Even being new-ish and getting bad assignments is so much better than management getting to jerk you around at their whim.

Yeah everyone at my current job just found out corporate hasn’t been paying for any of their shift meals while we only get 50% off.

Not only that but they just brazenly joked about it in front of us at the register. These ghouls are untouchable.

< me having flashbacks reading this

The article mentions walmart increasing the number of part time employees around 2005, my mom worked at a corporate office around this time and listened to trainings where they were teaching store managers how to coach their part time employees through signing up for government benefits. Walmarts stated plan was to have the government subsidize employee wages through services like food stamps, worked fucking perfectly, but no real surprise there when they can spend millions on lobbying

Yup I’m in this situation right now. Employer said they wouldn’t cut my hours, lied through their teeth, and hired another person so now my hours are halved.