Colectivo Coffee Workers Try to Unionize During Pandemic

Late last winter, a long-brewing conversation about unionizing began to get more serious at the Colectivo Coffee warehouse in Riverwest. Warehouse employees say management mistakes began to pile up: performance reviews, on which yearly raises depended, were months late, communication started to fall apart, and equipment needed repairs.

Former warehouse employee and organizer Robert Penner was fed up.

“They can do all the back patting and complimenting of our time, our work ethic, you can give us pizza parties or whatever,” Penner said. “That doesn’t make up for being actually treated with respect.”

Months later, coronavirus took root in the United States. It was then that warehouse employees began to speak with cafe workers about a union.

United by a shared desire for better working conditions and more respect from management, organizers began to plan a full campaign. They were not dissuaded by initial closings and temporary layoffs at Colectivo locations during the onset of the pandemic; rather, they found even more reason to unionize, according to former cafe employee and early organizer Mace Guzman.

Organizers decided that The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 494 and Local 1220, were best to represent them, according to Dean Warsh of IBEW Local 494.

Scott Schwebel, vice president of marketing and branding at Colectivo, said via email that employees will not benefit from a union.

“A third party inserted into our organization and culture adds zero value for our coworkers,” Schwebel said. “A union would simply inflict financial penalties through dues/taxes/compliance fees on our mostly transient hourly employee base with no merit or benefit.”

Colectivo Adjusts to the Pandemic

Colectivo has been a Milwaukee coffee icon for years. Their locations have sprawled from Riverwest and the lakefront, to Madison, Chicago and many more neighborhoods in Milwaukee.

Since the start of the pandemic, though, the cafes have looked quite different. What were once packed indoor hubs for social events are now largely empty facilities where customers are encouraged to order ahead and social distance inside the store. Financial strains have set back expansion since March, with two locations indefinitely closed.

At the Colectivo on Prospect Avenue, customers filter in one by one, masked up and awaiting orders. Curbside loading zones are visited by a steady flow of cars. Customers hurry in and out, back to their cars, and zip off.

Colectivo’s lakefront location shows fewer signs of a slowdown.

While the inside is strictly distanced, the large patio has remained a draw. Distanced tables sit alongside heaters providing warmth for a safer outdoor gathering space. With hot drinks and snacks in hand, customers lounge across the space and chat, in spite of the cold Lake Michigan breeze.

The activity is a contrast to Colectivo’s initial reaction to the pandemic. In March, all cafes were shut down for what was supposed to be two weeks. Employees were paid for their time off, but the shutdown ended with widespread temporary layoffs, including employees Guzman and Penner.

“They kind of just left us in limbo,” Guzman said. “They waited until the last moment to tell us we were laid off, leaving everyone kind of scrambling to file unemployment.”

Prior to the layoffs, Guzman sought to ensure safe working conditions for employees. They confronted management about coronavirus precautions and sought paid time off for employees stricken with the virus.

Colectivo has operated above the standards set by the CDC to ensure safety of its employees and customers, while trying to preserve as many jobs as possible, according to Schwebel.

It was at that time that Guzman, along with other cafe colleagues, began to seriously consider unionization.

Employees Air Grievances, Hopes for Colectivo

Guzman’s support for a union emerged when they first heard and related to the warehouse’s issues. They felt stuck, having had similar communication and respect issues in the past, Guzman said.

Colectivo has an open-door policy encouraging employees to reach out to management. That policy, however, did not live up to expectations, according to Guzman.

“They tell you the door is always open,” Guzman said, “but that doesn’t mean they hear you.”

One instance of miscommunication happened in the spring of 2018 when a customer entered the Swan Boulevard cafe dressed in blackface. The customer ordered, left, then returned without the makeup later in the day. The company’s response was to eventually ban the individual and hold a conversation about the incident, but that was insufficient, according to Guzman.

Management should have responded more quickly to the incident, racial bias training should become standard within the company and stricter anti-harassment policies should be put in place, Guzman said.

In March of 2020, discussions were held in secret Facebook groups among various cafe locations, gauging support for the union. These communications during the initial two-week closing got the union campaign off the ground, according to Guzman, but management says union advocates do not represent the views of all workers.

“First, our employees are not of one mind,” Schwebel wrote. “The majority of our coworkers are NOT in support of the union, only a small group of coworkers are advocating this agenda.”

“There has yet to be any concrete demands or credible platform that we are aware of,” Schwebel wrote.

The union organizers’ Instagram account, “Colectivo Collective,” includes posts about the organizing process, grievances and goals.

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A post shared by Colectivo Collective (@colectivocollective)

Schwebel’s response to inquiries about the unionizing effort did not address warehouse employees.

Robert Penner was a worker in the Riverwest production facility. He operated heavy packing equipment alongside other machines necessary for producing and shipping large amounts of roasted coffee that Colectivo supplies to its cafes as well as the wholesale and consumer markets.

The process of producing and shipping coffee is complicated, and poor communication last winter had begun to bog that process down, according to Penner.

Large orders would include last-minute changes with vague instructions, leaving warehouse staff ill-prepared. Management was also inflexible regarding changes in the warehouse recommended by employees to make their job easier, according to Penner.

Machines inside the warehouse were neglected, reducing efficiency, Penner said. On one occasion prior to the pandemic, a packaging machine had been operating incorrectly. A service technician from the manufacturer came in to inspect it and recommended several repairs, but management did not fix the machine, according to Penner.

“A lot of them are just held together with duct tape and prayer,” Penner said.

The breaking point for Penner was when performance reviews tied to yearly raises were months late.

Schwebel did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations from Guzman and Penner.

Colectivo Reacts to Organization Efforts

After going public with their intent to unionize, Colectivo employees were met with a standoffish attitude from management, according to Warsh.

“Of course, unions can have their place and can be of value in longer term professions with substantive tenure or legitimate ‘career’ employment,” Schwebel wrote in an email.

“Unless you plan on being an hourly barista or cashier with us for the extent of your working life… what would you get from the union?” he said.

It then became apparent through staff meetings that Colectivo had decided to hire Labor Relations Institute, Inc, a firm dedicated to preventing unionization and aiding employer-employee relations, according to IBEW lead organizer Kim Moon.

“We help our clients earn, protect and retain their direct relationship privilege,” the LRI, Inc. website states.

‘Direct relationship privilege’ refers to the exclusion of a third party in employee-employer relations. The third party most commonly is a union: in this case, the IBEW.

“We are not labor experts,” Schwebel wrote in response to the hiring of LRI, Inc.

“We are held to very strict guidelines and need to make sure our coworkers are fully availed of what their rights are and how they can exercise their rights in this situation,” he wrote.

After hiring LRI, Inc. Colectivo began using union-busting tactics, according to Moon.

“It’s really funny to see a company whose name is supposed to mean ‘collective’ actively try to stop their employees from having a collective voice,” Guzman said.

One tactic has been ‘captive audience meetings’ in which employees are taken into meetings and given reasons not to organize. Employees are told that the union is a third party that can’t offer real solutions, according to Moon.

“I do know what the union and their 100s of highly paid executives would get from the potential deal = $$$$,” Schwebel wrote. “Ask ‘them’ what value they’ll deliver to Colectivo’s coworkers for the revenue they’ll receive.”

It’s really funny to see a company whose name is supposed to mean ‘collective’ actively try to stop their employees from having a collective voice.

Mace Guzman

Colectivo also put up union education posters at their locations that said a union would hurt the company financially, Guzman said.

“The propaganda they use is straight out of the book,” Moon said.

“We tell employees, number one, that we aren’t going to lie to you, and that we promise nothing,” Moon said. “All we are there for is to assist the employees in forming an organization.” 

The union does not seek a boycott of Colectivo in its unionization efforts. Instead, customers wanting to support Colectivo employees should “reverse boycott,” which means ordering their drinks “union strong” or “IBEW strong,” according to Penner.

“We don’t want to call for anything like that because we’re really not interested in hurting the company,” Penner said.

Elected officials have expressed support for the Colectivo union, including members of the Milwaukee Common Council and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.

“I hope the owners of Colectivo understand that the ability of workers to collective bargain has only helped push our country forward and is a cherished part of our State’s history and heritage,” Moore said in a press release.

President of the UWM Student Association Emma Mae Weber has also expressed support for Colectivo employees. Weber campaigned for her position on a platform of improving wages and conditions for student employees at UWM.

“I know it’s scary but signing that authorization card is really the first step in seeing what’s possible,” Weber said. “Even if you’re unsure, it’s worth just seeing what happens.”

Authorization cards are the first step in a unionization push at many companies. They are an initial petition to show support. Employees express in writing tentative consent to representation from a union. They are non-binding and revocable. Thirty percent of employees are required to sign an authorization card/petition in order for the National Labor Relations Board to hold a secret-ballot election.

A simple majority is required for a union election to be successful. If a simple majority is not reached, another vote cannot be held for another year.

An Artist Works to Raise Awareness

One Milwaukee artist created buttons and t-shirts in support of the union.

Quinn Derive has experience himself in the coffee industry. After moving to Milwaukee, he began applying to jobs in the industry. He received a job offer at Stone Creek but turned it down because employees there were working to unionize.

At the start of the pandemic, Derive decided to tap into one of his other skills, screen printing, to help make extra money. Along with other artists, he helped establish Shaky Hand Screen Printing Co-op.

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A post shared by Heck Yeah – I Make Merch (@heckyeahfun)

When he learned that Colectivo workers were running a union campaign, Derive decided to support it with a free button campaign. 

He shipped more than 700 buttons.

Derive also made limited runs of t-shirts with the same design.

Other Milwaukee Workers Organize During the Pandemic

This year, Milwaukee Art Museum employees successfully organized through The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace workers.

Voces de la Frontera, a Milwaukee-based immigrant and labor advocacy organization, successfully received backpay for employees wrongfully terminated at Strauss Brands, a meatpacking facility.

Twenty-eight employees and one individual in a supervisory role were fired because they organized for labor protections related to COVID, according to Voces de la Frontera Communications Director Jacquelyn Kovarik.

“We’ve noticed a pattern with meat processing plants,” Kovarik said, “especially because those workers are so vulnerable because they are undocumented.”

Often times, workers at meat packing plants are indoors and alongside as many as five hundred other employees, according to Kovarik.

At Strauss Brands, an employee got sick and tested positive for COVID-19. The individual was required to return to work within a week of their diagnosis. More workers got sick, jump starting an organization effort among employees, Kovarik said.

Employees sought paid sick time off to ensure safe working conditions. Management at Strauss Brands then fired those employees, citing documentation issues, according to Kovarik.

She said Voces de la Frontera worked to file complaints with OSHA and the National Labor Review Board, eventually receiving cash settlements for those employees.

What’s Next?

Mace Guzman and Robert Penner were not brought back to the company after their temporary layoffs in April. They believe that their roles in organizing had something to do with their termination.

When Guzman asked former managers if there were hours to pick up, the managers said they were shorthanded. Upper management, though, refuted that statement and finalized full termination of Guzman. Penner, a veteran employee, was also permanently terminated in October.

“Commenting on any facet of ‘employment’ is not something our company does,” Schwebel wrote in response to the former employees’ charges.

An National Labor Relations Board secret-ballot election could be held at any time because 30% of employees have now signed authorization cards. Organizers are waiting to get more signatures for a higher chance of success when the election is held, according to Penner.

“This is quintessential in a capitalist society for letting workers know that they have power,” Penner said, “that if they are organized properly, they can have a positive influence over their working conditions.”