Is Coffee Shop Culture Suffering a “Slow Death”?

As the largest global coffee chain, Starbucks has built a reputation for treating its employees—called “partners”—with respect, but baristas have a different story to tell.

Last year, the saga began when Starbucks Partner Jaime Prater organized an effort to get Starbucks’s corporate decision makers to listen to the voices of the baristas serving up the drinks. Over 18,000 people signed the petition, which you can read online here.

Starbucks responded by discussing concerns, raising wages, and relaxing store dress codes, but Prater published an open letter to Starbucks last week, claiming that changing business models were “leading to slow death of the coffee house experience.”

You can read Prater’s full letter on the Dear Starbucks tumblr page, where you can also join the conversation.