Blue Bottle baristas at the World Trade Center announce union drive
Contact email: news@bluebottleunion.org
NEW YORK, NY – Today, October 21, workers at Blue Bottle Coffee’s World Trade Center location(WTC) announced their intent to join the Blue Bottle Independent Union (BBIU), becoming the first to unionize the coffee chain in New York City. Earlier this year, BBIU ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with the company. The agreement covers 9 locations across Massachusetts and California. Blue Bottle Coffee is a coffee chain owned by Centurium Capital, a Chinese private equity firm which also owns the brand Luckin’ Coffee. Currently, Blue Bottle has more than 80 locations across the United States, with 18 located in New York City.
In a letter read to management, the workers asked the company to voluntarily recognize their union by the end of the day and to refrain from union busting. The baristas cited the high cost of living, inconsistent staffing and scheduling, and arbitrary discipline from the company as central to their decision to fight for a union. Baristas complain that the company regularly violates New York’s Fair Work Week law, which requires that fast food workers be disciplined with just cause. In September, Blue Bottle entered into a settlement with a barista after the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection found that the company had violated Fair Work Week by firing him without just cause.
One barista framed their struggle for a union as being a fight for democracy in their workplace. “Currently, we have no say in how much we are compensated or treated while the company makes record profits, the baristas struggle to make ends meet between low wages, inconsistent schedules, and cuts to our hours. We are unionizing to further solidify the precedent for these standards for Blue Bottle baristas and beyond,” said Dannie Giglevitch, a barista at the World Trade Center location.
In April, it was confirmed that Centurium Capital purchased Blue Bottle from Nestlé for an undisclosed amount of money. While Blue Bottle prides itself on paying fair trade premiums for their coffee, BBIU claims that baristas are struggling to make ends meet amidst the cost of living crisis in New York. In addition to economic exploitation, BBIU claims that baristas regularly endure hazardous working conditions, harassment, and precarious scheduling, in the course of their time at Blue Bottle.
The baristas are determined to win their union. With a supermajority signing union cards, the bold, brash, and brave baristas are ready, willing, and able to fight for and win an equitable share of the value they produce.
