Blue Bottle Baristas Walk Out After Union Negotiations Stall – CoffeeTalk

Blue Bottle Coffee union workers have staged a walkout at five of the six Massachusetts locations of the Nestle-owned chain, leaving five without baristas. The union claimed that the company “illegally declared impasse in negotiations” because the company wants to install security cameras in its unionized cafes. The company had promised to install security cameras two weeks ago, which had been part of the contract, as well as paying baristas a living wage and providing protections against customer harassment. However, the union claimed that the company “illegally declared impasse in negotiations” because of the company’s threat to install cameras before agreeing to other parts of the contract.

The unionized baristas gave the company until noon Tuesday to recommit to negotiations. Workers also led a march on the boss last week, making their demands clear and posting videos of workers reading statements on social media. Around 30 workers walked Tuesday, closing locations in the Seaport, the Prudential Center, Newbury Street, Kendall Square, and Chestnut Hill.

Blue Bottle’s Boston workers unionized last spring because the company did not pay them enough to meet their basic needs, does not allow them any input into cafe operations, and shows continuous disdain for them as workers. The union joined a wave of other area coffee shop workers that had also unionized in the last few years at Pavement, 1369 Coffee House, and Starbucks. The same week that Blue Bottle employees walked out over security cameras, it was also reported that Blank Street Coffee workers were moving to unionize its Boston locations.

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