Employees at Little Dog by the Met coffee shop in Brunswick voted Wednesday to join Workers United, a union that represents workers in the food service industry.
Jess Czarnecki, a barista, who led the effort to join the union, said the vote to unionize was unanimous.
“I am elated and kind of in disbelief,” Czarnecki said. “But we won. It was a full yes (vote).”
Though there has been some turnover at the coffee shop on Maine Street, Czarnecki said 10 workers will be represented by the union. Negotiations on a new contract are expected to take place in the weeks ahead.
Workers at the popular downtown coffee shop notified owner Larry Flaherty in September of their intent to form a union. They said they were prompted to organize over concerns about food safety, a lack of transparency and respect from ownership, and unlivable wages.
They filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 3. alleging that Flaherty Retail of Maine engaged in unfair labor practices by firing two employees who supported organizing.
Flaherty and his wife, Diane, bought Little Dog in July. They also own The Metropolitan Coffee Houses, with locations in Freeport and North Conway, New Hampshire. After the complaint was filed, Flaherty said the two workers were not terminated because of union organizing, but could not talk about it further because of he did not want to violate employee privacy.
On Tuesday, a “sip in” was held at Little Dog for supporters of the workers and their effort to unionize.
The union campaign garnered support from Brunswick legislators Sen. Mattie Daughtry, Rep.-elect Dan Ankeles, Rep. Poppy Arford and Rep.-elect Cheryl Golek.
“As a small-business owner, I know that a community’s best resource is their workers. For many workers, a union is the best way to feel supported and heard,” Daughtry said in a statement. “I applaud these workers’ standing together to push for fair wages and safer working conditions. Little Dog Cafe and its friendly employees have been a major part of Brunswick’s downtown character for years. I truly hope that, if the vote to unionize goes through, Little Dog’s new owners will see the good intentions and passion put into this effort and agree to negotiate with workers in good faith.”
The Little Dog union vote comes amid a wave of union votes at Starbucks locations across the country. In the past year, more than 250 Starbucks stores have voted to join Starbucks Workers United, including the Biddeford and Old Port locations.
A month after workers at the Starbucks on Middle Street in Portland’s Old Port voted to unionize, the company announced that location will close on Dec. 23, prompting Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, to call on the NLRB to investigate what she called “blatant union-busting tactics.”
A Starbucks spokesperson said the company has to vacate the building while it is renovated, but the building owner said he tried to keep Starbucks as a tenant and offered them a temporary location.
This story will be updated.
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