Blue Bottle Baristas vs. Nestlé: The Battle for Bargaining Space

In the fight for a first contract, unionized Blue Bottle baristas are up against a true Goliath: Nestlé.

Last year, after Nestlé refused to pay these baristas what they’re worth, six Boston-area cafés voted to form Blue Bottle Independent Union. But instead of coming to the table and negotiating a fair contract, Nestlé’s Blue Bottle bosses have fired union supporters, given workers an effective pay cut by closing a location for renovations, and dragged their feet in negotiations.

Now, Blue Bottle is making it even harder for its workers to get the contract they deserve, and Blue Bottle Independent Union urgently needs funds to cover their share of the costs of a meeting space for negotiations. We’ll get into the details but first, can you make a donation to help them win the contract they deserve?

When the standard (free!) meeting space where negotiations had been scheduled fell through, Blue Bottle refused to consider any other free option, even after workers waived their right to a neutral meeting space. Nestlé-backed Blue Bottle may have no problem coughing up rental fees, but for an independent union made up of baristas, having to pay for negotiating space is a way for a corporation to apply pressure on the union to accept a worse deal.  

Splitting the cost of meeting space means that the union now needs to come up with hundreds of dollars per day of negotiations–a big lift for a small, independent union.

Blue Bottle workers are struggling. Nestlé-owned Blue Bottle touts itself as a progressive company that, according to its website, is building “a sustainable future for our people,” but the truth is that working at Blue Bottle simply isn’t sustainable for baristas. As one worker told us,

“We’re tired of working for a company owned by one of the largest corporations in the world, while constantly being told that our employer ‘can’t afford’ to provide us a living wage, even as we struggle to make ends meet in one of the highest cost of living cities in the country…Last year, I made 27k. Meanwhile, Nestlé made billions in profits.”

Blue Bottle baristas need a living wage now, but they are up against a corporation with endless resources.

Can you help them win the contract they deserve with a donation to cover the costs of their negotiation space? Every contribution helps Blue Bottle baristas get the contract they deserve.

In Solidarity,

The Labor Force