October 2025 bargaining update
Hello BBIU baristas,
Our bargaining team met with the Company on October 15-16, continuing our fight for a fair contract.
The takeaways:
Blue Bottle still has not given the Union any counter to our economic demands. We’re filing bad faith bargaining charges with the NLRB over this.
Blue Bottle flailed and failed to provide an adequate counter on promotions that consider seniority.
The Company’s lawyer questioned whether baristas are “valuable workers,” referred to employees as potential “dregs,” and dismissed part-time workers as people “who contribute the least to the company.”
As always, the proposals passed back and forth between us and the company are linked below.
A year of negotiating and no counter to our wage demands
Our Union began meeting with the Company to negotiate for a first contract a year ago. Yet the Company still has not provided any proposals for living wage, improved healthcare benefits, 401k match, or increased holiday pay.
We told them that baristas cannot afford to wait any longer for livable wages. Roughly a quarter of Blue Bottle baristas in the greater Boston area rely on government assistance programs like SNAP/EBT. Most Blue Bottle employees are rent burdened, spending more than 30% of their income on rent. The median rent paid by Blue Bottle employees is $1,045—the equivalent of 150 NOLAS!
Nestlé-owned Blue Bottle can certainly afford to pay baristas a livable wage. CEO Karl Strovink recently said that the Company has tripled the business since he took over in 2020.
Promotions
The Union proposed a transparent promotion process where vacant positions are posted in the back-of-house, seniority is considered alongside experience, and baristas who apply are guaranteed an interview. The Company's response? They completely withdrew their promotion proposal because the parties were "too far apart."
The Company's lawyer said he doesn't want the Company providing written explanations for promotion decisions. He claimed that posting job openings would create "duplicitous effort" and that interviewing everyone who applies would be a waste of time, particularly for employees the Company has already deemed unworthy of consideration.
When the Union pointed out that posting vacant positions simply means posting a piece of paper, he called our proposal "micromanaging" and "inefficient."
What Blue Bottle really thinks of baristas
During discussions about promotions, the Company’s lawyer asked whether the Boston workforce was “full of superstars” or if they were “dregs” who are gonna leave us in 30 days. When the Union pushed back, he clarified that he considers the workforce “sufficient quality.”
He also stated that “some of them are not valuable workers” when the Union raised concerns about baristas not feeling valued by the Company. This is how the Company’s lawyer characterized the workers who serve their customers every day.
Blue Bottle's approach to bargaining
Throughout the sessions, the Company's lawyer:
Called the Union's communication to the Company "bullshit" and compared filing unfair labor practice charges to "children running to Mom and Dad"
Interrupted and shushed Union bargaining team members
Stated the Company needs to be convinced that paying baristas more will make them more money before they'll engage on economics
Said the Company won't engage in profit-sharing "with the way this unit has behaved."
Blue Bottle's position on worker rights
The Company continues to demand a no-strike clause so broad it could prevent baristas from stopping work even in health and safety emergencies. When the Union raised examples of California stores forced to stay open during wildfires or with sewage backups, the Company's lawyer claimed workers would still have OSHA protections—while simultaneously demanding language that would allow the Company to arbitrate against the Union for any work stoppage.
Where we stand
Blue Bottle continues to demonstrate how much disdain they view their workers with. They insult their workforce, make us work in bad conditions, and push us into relative poverty so that way Nestlé can see their portfolio grow.
A year without any economic counter from the Company is unacceptable. Our union will not bow to bullying or bad faith negotiating tactics. It is time for us to push the company to bargain in good faith and to give us a contract that that treats us with the dignity and respect we’ve earned – a contract that includes the economic improvements we need to live.
GET INVOLVED
Our union is preparing to take action to win a strong contract, but we need YOUR participation!
Attend the next all members meeting, Monday October 27 @ 8:30pm EST over zoom.
Become a dues paying member to help us build up our strike fund.
