In Loving Memory: Piper Milliken

From left to right: Piper Milliken, Alex Pyne, Abbey Sadow, and Ray Schofeild

Dear BBIU baristas,

I am writing to you with devastating news. This past Sunday Piper Milliken, a member of our bargaining team, executive board, and founding organizer of our union , died. She was 27 years old.

I admired so much about her – she was intelligent, witty, artistic, talented at talking to people, and so much more. Anyone who was lucky enough to know her will tell you that Piper cared deeply about her community and put a lot of time and energy towards showing up for the people around her.

I want to share a little bit about her as an organizer, since that’s primarily how I knew her.

BBIU owes its existence in no small part due to Piper. She was instrumental in collecting union authorization cards, leading our walkout for recognition in 2024, and leading multiple strikes in 2025. Our union owes its vision to Piper’s dedication to class struggle, international solidarity, and trans rights.

As a trans woman, Piper knew firsthand that the struggle for trans liberation is inseparable from our struggle as a union. Trans people are often pushed into service work because we are systematically discriminated against in and outside of the workplace. The composition of baristas at Blue Bottle reflects this with 33% of BBIU members being trans. Trans people are far more likely than cisgender people to be unemployed, live in poverty, and live with food insecurity.

For the past several years organizing the union was a significant part of her life. As an ardent socialist, Piper’s dedication to union organizing came from a conviction not only that we deserved better but that we had the power to do something about it. She understood deeply the power we hold as workers and upheld our mission for demanding change. Piper’s empathy for her coworkers and friends knew no bounds. I am grateful to her for all the ways that she reminded me of how I deserve better in my own life.

In the nearly four years that she worked at Blue Bottle, she dedicated countless hours to talking with coworkers, organizing cafés, attending bargaining sessions, and serving as a Weingarten representative. She was a fierce advocate and was acutely aware to how management’s tyranny affected her coworkers. I am personally thankful to her for the countless occasions that she served as a Weingarten representative for me in meetings with management.

Piper cared deeply about her coworkers. Every union meeting and bargaining session she was raising issues brought to her by her coworkers and sharing how much she knew we needed to fight for better. I loved hearing her tell stories about work, and I know that her coworkers at the Newbury location will miss her and her sense of humor.

It has been an honor and a privilege to organize alongside her. I wish that I could tell her that right now. May her memory be a blessing.

We will have updates in the coming days about a memorial service for her. We have gotten the company to agree to close stores early on the day of the memorial should members choose to attend.

In solidarity,

Alex “Gonzo” Pyne

President BBIU