Colectivo Workers Expecting a Win in Union Vote

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Colectivo Coffee workers say they are expecting a win as unionization ballots from workers in Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago are returned to the National Labor Relations Board ahead of an April 6 count. 

Zoe Muellner, a trainer and vocal union supporter at Colectivo until she was laid off due to “COVID cuts” said in an email exchange that their heart tells them they’ve won, though, “upper management has played quite a savage game and its hard to tell how effective that has been.”

Muellner was part of a group of workers calling themselves the Voluntary Organizing Committee (VOC). The group rallied support among workers for more than a year before filing a petition to the NLRB in late February to be represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, following a show of interest campaign in the form of authorization cards. 

Though the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers has never represented workers in the coffee industry before, organizer and worker Hillary Laskonis explained that after meeting with both the IBEW and Teamsters, the choice was clear. 

Art produced for the Colectivo Collective by @salliemakesart on Instagram.

“The Teamsters kind of had the idea that we would organize the warehouse workers first, and then slowly see about branching out” Laskonis said in an interview. “When we asked about the cafes in Chicago and Madison, they thought that would come way down the line. We as workers kind of wanted to do it all in one big bargaining unit, and the IBEW was willing to do that.” 

Part of the election process is deciding on a bargaining unit, or who would be able to vote on and be represented by the union. The Colectivo Workers’ union would be uniquely large, spanning 16 stores in three cities and covering all full and part-time employees classified as Cafe Coworker and Cafe Designer. 

According to the Notice of Election published by the NLRB on Mar. 1, these categories include baristas, trainers, roasters, warehouse workers, technicians and bakery workers in both Illinois and Wisconsin. 

Workers within the bargaining unit must mail their ballots by Mar. 30 in order to be counted. There will be a week-long waiting period for ballots to arrive, and a count will take place on April 6 at 9 a.m. 

John Jacobs, assistant business manager* at the Local 494 branch of the IBEW, said he has a good feeling about the results. 

“Yeah I am anticipating a win, just going off of all the support we have garnered from other organizations and other unions that have come on in solidarity,” Jacobs said in a phone interview. 

Jacobs has participated significantly in the organizing taking place on Instagram, particularly in the ‘Social Saturday’ events where workers can get together virtually every Saturday night to talk, ask questions and just generally connect.

“It’s open to anybody who wanted to ask questions, and they did” Jacobs said. “I feel like we’ve reached a lot of people and changed a lot of minds because, you only know what you know. As long as you are willing to sit down and listen to what we are about, I firmly believe that we’ve educated a lot of individuals.” 

Organizers said active engagement through social media with workers in different cities has been a major component of the unionization drive. Kevin Schwerdtfeger, director of organizing at Teamsters Local 344, compared the VOC’s organizing techniques like “reverse boycotting” to that of the unsuccessful union effort at Stone Creek Coffee in 2019. 

A reverse boycott is a tactic where organizers encourage customers to go in and buy products and express support for the union to workers.

“It’s unique to retail workers because you can’t walk into a factory and say ‘Hey, I think you should vote for the union’ so it is an opportunity to connect,” Schwerdtfeger said.

The VOC encouraged customers to order their coffee “union strong” or “IBEWStrong” in support of the coffee union.

While their Instagram presence is strong, workers have run into obstacles that they describe as ‘union busting’ from Colectivo management, who have hired a firm called the Labor Relations Institute (LRI).

The consulting firm has a going rate of $375 per hour or a flat rate of $1500 per day, according to a document obtained by workers and posted to the ‘Colectivo Collective’ Instagram account. Jacobs said this expense is “puzzling” considering the recent location closures and layoffs. 

The VOC instagram page, ‘Colectivo Collective’, acquired a contract between Colectivo and the Labor Relations Institute which confirms the steep hourly rate of the consulting firm.

“It was upsetting to find out because their name means ‘collective’ in Spanish” Laskonis said of Colectivo. “I’m probably naive, but when we started I thought they wouldn’t be so against this, you know? But they have been, and it’s been disappointing.”

In a statement to Media Milwaukee, Colectivo Coffee said that the decision to hire the LRI was an investment to ensure coworkers are fully informed, and that the VOC forced their hand.

“Colectivo would much rather be spending these funds on wages, equipment, tools and improvements to systems, but this wasn’t our choice” according to the statement. 

The full statement sent by Colectivo about the union vote.

*Correction: The original story misstated Jacobs’ title.