Baristas of the World, Unite
Following on the heels of the union drive at Starbucks, a growing number of campaigns have appeared to organize coffee shops. In Pittsburgh, baristas at Coffee Tree Roasters, a local company with five stores, are unionizing with the UFCW.
Staff at Coffee Tree Roasters’ five Pittsburgh-area locations are organizing and have announced their intention to unionize. (@gorodenkoff / Getty Images)
On Wednesday, December 22, workers at Coffee Tree Roasters’ five Pittsburgh-area locations — Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Mount Lebanon, Fox Chapel, and Pleasant Hills — announced their intention to unionize.
An election filing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) counts fifty-two workers as part of the unit, which encompasses baristas across the locations (the union does not include the company’s roastery and distribution employees). In a video announcing the campaign, workers spoke of their desire for electronic tips, paid time and a half for employees who work on holidays, paid sick leave, and better staffing and COVID precautions.
The day after the video was released, Coffee Tree fired Liam Tinker, a barista at the Squirrel Hill location who appears in the video.
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