Colectivo Coffee workers hope their union win inspires others
Colectivo Coffee workers are hoping that their union win this week inspire others in the service industry to organize as the group prepares for the bargaining table.
Colectivo Coffee workers voted 106 to 99 in favor of unionizing in the most recent tally. The National Labor Relations Board opened up some challenged ballots Monday after the initial count ended in a 99-99 tie in April.
The vote is expected to be certified next week.
“Over this last year and a half, we have really worked as a unit and gotten to know a lot of people across the company and so being able to be able to build on that, even more, is going to be really rewarding,” said Colectivo employee Ida Lucchesi.
“I think it will also be really important to show other people in the service industry that it can be done. And that they can work toward this as well.”
The group is encouraging customers to stop at Colectivo Coffee locations over Labor Day weekend to support the union win.
After the vote is certified, the union will get to work. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494 will send an opening letter to the company. It will get all names and contact information for current employees and then the group will meet with employees and conduct online surveys to hear about issues.
“Being the largest organized cafe in the country is a great thing. But we hope to hold that record for a very short time,” said Dean Warsh, business manager for IBEW Local 494. “Hopefully, others take our lead.”
Colectivo has around 500 employees at its cafes, production and corporate staff for its roasting facility in Riverwest and cafes in Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago areas. The majority of those employees who work in the cafes, production, warehouse, roasting and bakery areas will be represented by the union.
Hillary Laskonis, who has worked as a barista at Colectivo for nearly four years, said the employees will likely focus on working conditions, equipment maintenance and reasonable scheduling practices when bargaining.
“We have been reluctant to name things as being our priorities because the truth is that we don’t know,” Laskonis said. “So much has changed from before the pandemic to now that we are going to really be diligent about surveying our coworkers across departments.”
The workers want to see new policies adopted during the pandemic to continue.
“It’s pretty standard for workers to come in sick if they can’t find a replacement,” Laskonis said. “That’s how it was before the pandemic. We worry that will be what we return to after.”
The employees also want to ensure that their input will be taken into account as the pandemic subsides.
The current labor market gives the union more power as it starts to negotiate, Laskonis said.
“It gives us a lot of leverage actually,” Laskonis said. “I think the worker shortage has given even those workers who are not in unions the leverage to ask their manager for the things that they needed.”