After a months-long fight with their employer, workers at Java Blend announced last month that they have been successful in their bid to form a union at the local coffee shop.
Workers cast ballots about forming a union a year ago in June 2023, but the ballots remained sealed until last month over disputes about which workers should be included in the vote. When the ballots were finally counted, 90 percent of workers voted in favour of unionizing with SEIU Local 2.
“Halifax is a union town:” community support helps secure victory
In January 2024, Java Blend fired several café employees, including the four leaders of a union drive. In response, SEIU Local 2 filed an unfair labour practice complaint and in April launched a boycott of Java Blend, which was supported by local unions and businesses.
At the end of May, workers announced that they had won their fight, including: an agreement to start recalling terminated employees; a city-wide bargaining unit that includes all cafés owned by Java Blend, and a commitment to starting good-faith bargaining for a first collective agreement.
“We are very proud – this wasn’t easy,” said Andy Mawko, one of the worker leaders, in a press release. “We stood up for ourselves and fought for what was right. When we fight, we win!”
Java Blend workers are hoping to address a number of issues through collective bargaining including job security and health and safety concerns.
Workers also acknowledge the role of community support in securing their victory.
“We have an important message to the beautiful community that supported us,” said Cailen Pygott, a worker-organizer who was terminated. “Together, we can achieve incredible things! From regular customers to prominent leaders, artists like El Jones, and from businesses that believe in doing the right thing: Thank you. Halifax is a union town — and we encourage all non-union service workers to unite and organize.”
Decade-long history of barista organizing in Halifax
For over a decade, baristas in Halifax have been attempting to organize unions in their workplaces, with varying success. While workers have successfully organized at several cafés over the years, only one group of workers was ever able to secure a contract with their employer.
Baristas first unionized at what was then Just Us Spring Garden. When Just Us later sold the Halifax café and another non-unionized location to Smiling Goat cafe owner Kit Singh, workers attempted to unionize all Smiling Goat locations. While drives were successful, the new owner closed all the locations.
In response, workers at the original Spring Garden location were able to reorganize their workplace into Glitterbean, a unionized worker-owned cooperative,. Until this recent victory from Java Blend workers, Glitterbean was the only unionized café open in town.
In addition to Just Us and the Smiling Goat, there were other attempts to organize baristas in Halifax including at Cobourg Cafe and Second Cup on Quinpool did not result in long-term improvements for workers as a result of union-busting and closures.
The city-wide bargaining unit for Java Blend includes cafes on North Street and Sackville Street in Halifax, the production and roastery warehouse on Borden Ave. in Dartmouth, and the Cortado Tasting Room in Bedford.
“When we fight, we win”
A key motto of the workers at Java Blend has been “when we fight, we win.” And these workers have shown that mantra to be true.
The history of barista organizing in Halifax has not been linear, with many gains and setbacks seen along the way, but the victory at Java Blend is proof that workers can organize to improve their working conditions in low-wage sectors.
Let’s hope other workers hear the call from these baristas about the power of uniting and organizing in your workplace.
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