Blue Bottle Independent Union goes on their first strike

November 2025- (Boston) Today, 120 baristas at Blue Bottle coffee are on strike for unfair labor practices. After unionizing all 6 greater Boston area locations in May of 2024, the Blue Bottle Independent Union (BBIU) has yet to reach a tentative agreement on a first contract. 

BBIU alleges that the  Nestle owned coffee chain has committed several unfair labor practices in the past year. Most recently, the union alleges that Blue Bottle coffee is engaging in bad faith bargaining with no intention of reaching a tentative agreement on a contract. They point to the termination of Abbey Sadow, the union’s treasurer and communications director, as evidence of this. Blue Bottle was acquired by Nestlé in 2017, which baristas say has led to deteriorating working conditions.

92% of baristas at the chain voted in favor of striking, signaling that they are serious about seeing real improvements to wages and other benefits. According to a survey conducted by the union, a majority of employees at the company are rent burdened. Blue Bottle baristas see 46% of their income going towards rent, with roughly a third of baristas paying over 60% of their income toward their rent. Blue Bottle Coffee operates in some of the most expensive cities in the US, and around the world. With stagnant wages and a refusal to bargain, the baristas  have  decided it’s time to take action.

Alex Reyes, a barista who’s been with the company in the East Bay area for nearly a decade, said:

“Striking confirms that together Union workers have the strength to tip the balance of powers. As a union we have a legal protected right from the NLRB to strike over unfair labor practices. We have these rights because generations of everyday workers before us held strikes, protested and won!”