La Colombe baristas allege retaliatory firings
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
La Colombe on Randolph Street. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
Baristas at La Colombe's West Loop coffee shop tell Axios they were fired for union activities, and at least one says they have filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
Why it matters: Former and current staff members told Axios the staff cuts, from 11 to 6 employees, have shocked the remaining workers and forced staff to reduce operating hours at the popular West Randolph cafe.
State of play: The location has cut operating hours from 6:30am-6pm on weekdays to 7am-2pm while trimming weekend hours and shutting down the day after Thanksgiving.
- Supporters of the terminated employees have donated more than $5,000 to a GoFundMe campaign to help them.
One former employee gave Axios a copy of their termination notice, which included three spaces to list previous employee infractions. All three spaces were blank.
- The worker says they were told they violated company policy by giving away free coffee to a homeless person.
- Multiple baristas tell Axios this has long been a common practice that managers had even been continuing.
The other side: "We cannot comment on confidential employee matters, however, we can say that we take our company's values and policies including our Standards of Conduct seriously, and enforce them equally, holding all employees across all aspects of the company to the same established standards," a La Colombe statement sent to Axios said.
- "All employee matters are investigated thoroughly prior to any action being taken."
The big picture: Four Chicago La Colombe locations ratified their union contracts in October under the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) in the wake of other high-profile cafe unionizations at Starbucks and Colectivo.
- Local UFCW union rep Darius Brown tells Axios he is working to reinstate the staffers and cannot say anything more now.
Zoom in: Sarah Clausen, currently a barista at La Colombe, says staff pushed to unionize for higher wages, as some workers struggled with rent and expenses.
- Clausen adds that the strain worsened during the pandemic as voluntary tips declined, leading staff to implement a mandatory 10% tip on every order.
Between the lines: Axios spoke to four baristas, including two who were fired. They think the firings were retaliatory because they happened within a month of union contract ratification and those fired worked hard toward unionization.
What's next: Workers tell Axios they are working to get better explanations or get reinstated.