Workers at four Halifax coffee shops, part of the Smiling Goat chain, have voted to unionize after they say they’ve gone weeks without being paid.
A group of employees spoke Friday about what they called “wage theft” after their paycheques started bouncing. Over 45 paycheques have bounced since September, the union estimates.
CBC News spoke to a dozen employees in total who all said they’ve had at least one cheque bounce.
The baristas are now part of the Service Employees International Union, a North American organization that has about two million members.
If your check bounced why the fuck would you still come in? When your check bounced that was the light shining upon your exit….. and if the company got shady business practices what they care about a union for? Labor board, unemployment office, class action, then if you want a union have at. This blows my mind lol you still worked for a company that gave you rubber instead of money. Did you take coffee and pastry as payment? What you tell all your bill collectors? Heaven forbid if you had kids or had any kind of emergency.
I don’t think, actually I know you don’t understand how bad the Nova Scotian economy is. There are no jobs. Quitting and quickly finding another job isn’t an option. And up until a month or so ago, they were still getting paid the cheques just came late. Better late payment then no job and no money.
And your solution of just quitting, all that means is someone else is going to be hired and someone else is going to go through this but without the company knowledge that these workers, a lot of whom have worked at these coffee shops for years, have.
also I don’t think you really understand what a union is… a union means they can strike, a union means they’ll have lawyers, a union means they’ll have support. it’s actually rlly worrisome how little value you perceive unions to have. the workers are more likely to see money and quickly because they joined a union and can strike than if they were to quit and look for work else where.
not to mention that at at least one of these cafes, the majority of the workers are lgbt. they’ve created a safe work environment for themselves. that’s not something most people want to give up without a fight.
and finally, in the baristas’ own words:
Many people want to know why we don’t just quit our jobs. Our response to that is we like our jobs, we like being baristas, and we want to continue being baristas. We have fostered a community within our workplace, despite the conflict with our employer. It is also in our best interest that we remain employed and that the Smiling Goat stays in business, so long as our boss can live up to his obligations under our contract. Simply quitting allows him, and every other employer who commits wage theft or other illegal actions, to continue operating business as usual, and to take advantage of a new crop of unsuspecting employees. We are here to tell you that we are finished with wage-theft as usual. We are finished with bad bosses in the service industry. We encourage all service industry workers to unionize and fight back against being disrespected at work. Together, we can turn service industry workplaces into spaces where we, the workers, are valued and respected for the work we do.
You can read the baristas’ full press release here.
Baristas at Smiling Goat coffee chain vote to unionize, say they’re victims of ‘wage theft’
Nava 