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By Aaron Hall
BOSTON—On Saturday afternoon, members of the Blue Bottle Independent Union (BBIU) performed a walkout at three of their locations. The walkouts took place at exactly 12:30 pm at Kendall and Newbury, and 2:30pm at Chestnut Hill, meant to coincide with peak hours for each location. The walkouts came in response to the company’s decision to close their Prudential Center location. The walkouts lasted exactly 7 minutes and 59 seconds in reference to their demand for a $7.59 tip differential.
Some of the main issues the BBIU raised were guaranteed hours, a commuter benefit for transferred workers, and the $7.59 tip differential for Prudential workers – a value based on the average amount of tips made by workers in 2024.
A tip differential is the wage the employer must pay the worker in addition to the minimum wage for service workers, which stands at $6.75 per hour in Massachusetts, if the total valuation of tips doesn’t meet the minimum required by the state or contract. This fight comes as displaced workers will have a lower share of the tip pool as they are moved and added to different locations.
Alex Pyne, Vice President of the BBIU stated that they are “taking action today because baristas should be able to live off their wages and not rely on the generosity of customers to make ends meet. Blue Bottle could have guaranteed a tip differential for Prudential workers but instead they told us that they didn’t want to pay any ‘additional costs.’”
Alex went on to say “Blue Bottle’s continuous retaliation against us has shown that the only way we are going to win a living wage, consistent schedules, protection from harassment, or workplace democracy is through solidarity and collective action.”
Blue Bottle Coffee, Inc., is a coffee roaster and retailer whose majority stake was acquired by Nestle in 2017. Nestle is the world’s largest food company and notorious for alleged use of union-busting activity, slavery, and child labor. However, 52.7% of Nestle’s employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements as of 2023.
According to Kendall Square worker Louis Soults, negotiations began in November with the company “refusing to negotiate in good faith.” Louis went on to say that “transportation costs for [displaced] workers for 2 months would be [approximately] $8,000, which is about the amount the Prudential location makes in a day.”
The BBIU represents around 67 workers at 6 locations around Boston, including baristas, shift managers, and assistant café leaders. The union is young, forming with a vote of 38-4 on May 3, 2024. The union was formed through an NLRB election after management refused to voluntarily recognize their union, launching their effort publicly in April of 2024. The independent union faces an uphill battle against Blue Bottle Coffee and their major stakeholder, Nestle. Negotiations and bargaining sessions for a new contract remain ongoing.
Aaron Hall is a Biotech worker and a writer for Working Mass.
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