July 2026 bargaining update
Dear BBIU baristas,
Our union’s bargaining team made significant progress in negotiations on July 22 and July 23. We will be holding a meeting to discuss how we should respond on Wednesday, July 29 at 8:30pm EST over zoom.
It is imperative that members attend this meeting. If you are unable to attend but would like your input to be represented, please reach out to your store’s union representative.
Wins at the table
Our union has secured another tentative agreement with the company on all remaining non-economic terms. With this TA, our union has won:
A three year agreement with the company
Strong union rights including:
15 minute orientation meetings with new hires
Access to cafés to conduct union business on non-work time
Union stewards will be able to conduct grievance without loss of pay
The ability to collect dues through a payroll deduction
Recourse through a strong grievance and arbitration procedure
A weekly tip sheet which will break down how much cafés collected in tips, along with how they are split.
Health and safety language
Read the tentative agreement here.
The company’s wage offer
The company has finally given our union an economic package. Below is the table with their current wage offers:
A screenshot of Blue Bottle’s proposed wage offers.
For Boston, their wage offer includes:
A 45 cent wage increase in the first year for baristas, and a 6.8% wage increase over the life of the contract.
A 70 cent wage increase for shift leads in the first year, and a 6.7% increase over the life of the contract.
For the East Bay, their wage offer includes:
A 25 cent wage increase in the first year for baristas, with a 5.3% increase over the life of the contract
A 79 cent wage increase for shift supervisors in their first year. However, the company’s wage offer is regressive because they offered our union a 7% wage increase for shift supervisors in the East Bay in June.
These wage offers are deeply unserious considering that the company is not providing any offer to improve other benefits. Nor is the company willing to commit to securing currently existing benefits during the life of the contract.
Further, the company wants to maintain “sole discretion over compensation that exceeds base hourly rates,” which our union views as a coy way for them to take away the incentive pay structure which exists in Boston. Maintaining sole discretion over wages and benefits is antithetical to the point of a contract and would allow the company to continue engaging in gross favoritism.
The company’s offer is so far removed from a serious offer to provide wages and benefits which baristas can live on that it warrants no response. The inflation rate between 2024 (when our union won recognition) and today has been 6.5%. Meaning, that baristas in Boston would need to earn $19.17/hr to have the same purchasing power that they did back in 2024!!
It’s insulting that they expect our union to agree to bad faith economic offers which allow them to change benefits during the life of the contract.
Losses at the table
Over the course of negotiating, the company made it clear that they would refuse to enter into an agreement with the union unless we conceded to a no strikes clause. Their insistence on the inclusion of a no-strikes provision and refusal to consider any alternatives is evidence of bad faith bargaining.
As far as no-strike clauses go, our union was able to preserve our right to:
Handbill and hand out flyers
Utilize stationary banners outside of cafés
Display inflatables (such as scabby the rat) outside of cafés
Publicly shame the company through social media and press releases.
All of these actions are legally distinct from striking and picketing and constitute protected concerted activity under the NLRA.
The no-strike clause which our union was able to secure did have other protections such as:
The company agreed to not engage in any lockouts during the term of the agreement.
The company agreeing to not hold union officers or stewards financially liable should a wildcat strike occur.
Recourse through the grievance procedure to challenge any potential company misrepresentations of workplace action.
Call to action – attend the all members meeting on Wednesday
That our union has effectively pushed the company this close to entering into any collective bargaining agreement at all is a testament to our power as workers to bring work to a halt. Getting to this point has required trust, organization, and most importantly, strikes.
We’ve reached a critical juncture where we need to ask ourselves what it will take not just to win a contract, but one that will dramatically improve our lives and secure our power in the workplace.
Attend the all members meeting on Wednesday, July 29 at 8:30pm EST over zoom to help answer this question.
