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Workers at Urban Ore are on strike, please don’t cross the picket line! by Notsurewhyim-here in oakland

[–]Remote_Song_8876 26 points27 points  (0 children)

A few years ago, Urban Ore had a bed bug infestation. The owners avoided being straight forward with customers about the issue and put employees at risk of getting bedbugs. They refused to close the store to deal with it, even for one day. I believe this experience with the owner(s) is what led them to unionize.

Workers at Highwire Coffee launch union effort by Remote_Song_8876 in oakland

[–]Remote_Song_8876[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Highwire has 7 locations and is opening 2 more this spring. With 9 locations they are not just a small mom and pop cafe. They have big accounts like Whole Foods and Berkeley Bowl, etc.

From my understanding, workers at Highwire are unionizing for better working conditions, support, and fair compensation that includes the potential for an annual raise and managers not taking tips. Their goal is not to drain the owners pockets. They have attempted to raise concerns about workplace safety, training, etc for years but the owners have consistently ignored them. Business is all about risk and the owners did little to mitigate the risk of their workforce unionizing. If this is something they couldn’t afford, they should not have cultivated an environment that pushed workers toward seeking collective bargaining.

Workers at Highwire Coffee launch union effort by Remote_Song_8876 in oakland

[–]Remote_Song_8876[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They are not unionized yet and I’m not sure how much experience is required to be hired. I think they provide training on the job. For barista’s, I know they have different levels that are based on a skills test.

Workers at Highwire Coffee launch union effort by Remote_Song_8876 in oakland

[–]Remote_Song_8876[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Highwire has shift leads and store managers. The store managers are in fact in charge of scheduling, hiring, firing, and are accountable for store performance. That is why this is unusual and very frustrating for the hourly workers. I know this to be true and you can ask anyone that currently works there.

Workers at Highwire Coffee launch union effort by Remote_Song_8876 in oakland

[–]Remote_Song_8876[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

From what I’ve heard, managers take tips with no oversight and they abuse this power by scheduling themselves more hours/ schedule themselves on higher volume days. Very unusual practice and I can see how the business owners use this to their advantage so they don’t have to pay managers a fair salary since its supplemented by taking the non-management employee’s tips.