Support Bella, Fired Blue Bottle Barista

Blue Bottle, the national Nestlé-owned coffee chain, just fired barista and union member Bella Roman from one of its Boston cafés. 

This firing comes just after Blue Bottle unlawfully bypassed negotiations to announce plans to install surveillance cameras in union cafés. In response, Blue Bottle Independent Union members marched on the boss, filed unfair labor practice charges, and walked off the job in a one-day strike.

Days later, Blue Bottle fired barista and union member Bella Roman. Can you rush a donation to Bella’s GoFundMe to help her cover the basics while she seeks a new job?

Blue Bottle Independent Union’s Update on Bella

In firing Bella, Blue Bottle reneged on its previous commitment to the union to bargain over discipline. Here’s the story, directly from Blue Bottle Independent Union:

“On Friday, Blue Bottle illegally fired a dear coworker of ours, Bella Roman, for petty time and attendance issues.

Working with Bella is an absolute joy. Her sense of humor and enthusiasm to serve excellent coffee made a noticeable difference on every shift with her.

In a break with past practice, Blue Bottle did not provide our union with notice or an opportunity to bargain over Bella’s discipline. Back in March, the company had committed to:

‘notify the respective café Union representative when it decides to issue serious levels of discipline (i.e. discipline or discharge) to the extent those individuals are available. When the Company receives a request to bargain over issuance of serious discipline, the Company plans to stay issuing the discipline for a reasonable period of time for discussion and good-faith negotiation with the Union.’

And yet, they fired Bella without negotiating!

This rupture of the status quo is an illegal unfair labor practice. We demand that Bella be reinstated until our union has an opportunity to bargain over her termination. Our union walked out in protest of Blue Bottle’s illegal actions.”

How to Support Bella

As the union gears up to take further action in their fight against Blue Bottle, can you make a donation to Bella to cover bills and utilities while she searches for a new job? Every contribution makes a difference.

In Solidarity,

The Labor Force