For 7 minutes and 59 seconds at 12:31 p.m., unionized employees at three Blue Bottle Coffee locations in Massachusetts walked out to defy decreased tip wages and alleged bad-faith corporate bargaining.
By 12:39 p.m., the employees had returned to the counter to resume business. The 7-minute, 59-second-long walkout at three Blue Bottle Boston locations was symbolic of the average tip wages baristas have made since the Prudential Center location shut down for renovations. At the time of the closure, employees were given the option to take a leave of absence or be transferred to another fully-staffed Boston location.
Saturday’s walkout at the Newbury Street location, in addition to the Chestnut Hill and Kendall Square locations, came in response to the company’s failure to guarantee working hours and tip differentials to subsidize thinly-spread tip pools amongst additional baristas.
“Blue Bottle has delayed negotiating over our core demands and most recently negotiated in bad faith with us over the recent closure of the Prudential location,” BBIU President Rocky Prull, reading aloud from a letter addressed to management, said, adding that the company has created a tense working environment for union members and supporters. “Blue Bottle went ahead with the closure without an agreement from the union membership.”
“The more difficult management chooses to make this, the more we’re ready to fight,” Prull said.
Patrons inside Blue Bottle Coffee applauded as the baristas exited the building and passed out informational fliers to passersby for the duration of the walkout.
Piper Milliken, a 25-year-old organizer within BBIU and an employee for over two years, said that since the Prudential closure, already thin tip pools split amongst staff have been diluted further.
“All the baristas here rely on tips for a sizable portion of their income,” she said. “That’s obviously not the fault of the Prudential employees, it’s the fault of the company for having forced [baristas] to front the bill for a decision they made.”
Blue Bottle Independent Union (BBIU) is seeking liveable wages and democratic control over the workplace. In May of last year, BBIU won a landslide election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), 38-4, in favor of unionizing. Blue Bottle Coffee and its parent company, Nestlé, were given one week after the launch to formally recognize the union, but failed to do so.
“Blue Bottle Coffee remains dedicated to working in good faith with the Blue Bottle Independent Union and has committed to meeting monthly to bargain and address relevant matters collaboratively,” Annaliese Hazen, a spokesperson for Blue Bottle Coffee, wrote in an email to The Beacon.
BBIU met with Blue Bottle Regional Director Rami Nehme, a HR representative, and Ogletree Deakins law firm representative Jesse Dill in November to bargain for tip differentials following the Prudential closure. According to Milliken, present during bargaining sessions, the company refused to take on additional labor costs.
Nestlé has used Ogletree Deakins as legal counsel in the past, a firm infamous for their “union avoidance” tactics and union intimidation attempts at IKEA in Stoughton, Mass.
Union organizers allege that since its NLRB recognition in May, Blue Bottle has engaged in hostility towards unionized baristas through petty write-ups, cut hours and understaffing, removal of “know-your-rights” fliers, store hour changes without union consultation, and the firing of union organizer Remy Roskin.
Roskin was fired for “time-theft” when she allegedly clocked in for her shift from her phone before arriving at her shift at the Blue Bottle Harvard location. Blue Bottle’s typical system for infractions involves a verbal warning, a written warning, followed by a formal write-up before escalating to firing. BBIU has since filed 16 unfair labor practice complaints against the company.
Other Nestlé subsidiaries have filed complaints against the company for bad faith bargaining, telling employees not to discuss disciplinary actions, unapproved contract changes, and failing to supply necessary bargaining information.
A patron of Blue Bottle Coffee present during the walkout, 32-year-old Syed was “sympathetic” to the union.
“It seemed like they [are] using legitimate means to garner attention to a cause that’s important to them,” he said. Syed was taken aback by the sudden walkout, because he hadn’t heard anything about union efforts in the news, but expressed his solidarity with BBIU.
Milliken said the union ultimately seeks wages that are proportional to the high cost of living in Boston, one of the most expensive U.S. cities to live in.
“I see this as something I could do for a while, but financially that’s not feasible for baristas right now,” Milliken said. “I would enjoy it a lot [more] if I knew the company was going to make sure I can afford to pay rent and groceries and pay my bills.”
Some baristas, according to Milliken, subsidize their wages by working second jobs, scrounging for extra hours, and eating less in a day. Often, busy shifts and extra hours leave employees skipping breaks and missing mealtimes.
Another bargaining session is scheduled later in the week to discuss the walkout and negotiate wages, as well as begin contract negotiations.
“Liveable wages for baristas,” one walkout participant said. “Wouldn’t that be awesome?”
