Workers at Anodyne Coffee voted unanimously to unionize earlier this month, but its parent company is challenging the results.
After the election was initially delayed for health reasons, Anodyne workers voted 37-0 in favor of unionization in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election on June 4. FairWave, a Kansas City-based coffee conglomerate that owns brands across the United States, including Anodyne, alleges that ineligible employees voted in the election, encouraged union effort and its employees were "intimidated."
FairWave did not respond to our request for comment on its challenges.
Matt Bruenig, a lawyer representing Anodyne workers, said this is a delay tactic.
“The strategy here is delay, first and foremost,” he says. “If it was close, maybe, but 37-0 is a tough one to overturn.”
A hearing later this month will determine if this objection is withheld. If it is upheld, the election may need to be rescheduled once again. So how did we get here, and what happens next?
A rare unanimous vote to unionize
As previously reported, Anodyne workers petitioned for union representation under the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union (MASH) on April 14. Workers cited multiple firings, a 20% cut in starting pay, and lack of local control as reasons for unionization.
One hundred percent of Anodyne employees signed union authorization cards — a document signed by an individual worker authorizing the union to bargain on their behalf. FairWave declined to voluntarily recognize the union, opting to hold an NLRB election.
This election was originally scheduled for May 21, but was botched due to health concerns and postponed for two weeks. On June 4, Anodyne workers voted unanimously in favor of the union.
Syd Vinyard, coffee lead at Anodyne, said the election result demonstrated workers were serious about their push to unionize.
“It was amazing that on that day all of us showed up, and not a single person [chose to] vote in any favor of FairWave,” Vinyard says.
This year through April, only about one-fifth of the 443 NLRB elections nationwide have been unanimous in favor of unionization. Of the cases that involved more than 20 voting employees, only 7 were unanimous in favor of unionization, accounting for 1.5% of total cases.
FairWave files objections: surveillance and statutory supervisors
A week after election results were tallied, FairWave filed a complaint with the NLRB asking to nullify the election results. The complaint alleges that five “statutory supervisors” encouraged unionization, and called into question these employees’ ability to be eligible for union membership. The complaint also alleges that a union representative “attempted to intimidate” and surveilled one of FairWave’s employees.
FairWave did not respond to request for comment on the complaint, and declined an interview about the lead up to the election and its results.
Matt Bruenig, a lawyer representing MASH, says he is “still trying to get to the bottom" of what FairWave is referring to regarding intimidation.
“I am being fully straight forward with you when I say I have yet to figure out what they’re talking about,” he says.
Bruenig added that the complaint regarding “statutory supervisors” rests on whether the employees in question have the ability to unilaterally perform specific actions like hiring, firing or promoting employees.
A hearing on these complaints is currently scheduled for next week.
Dr. John Heywood, professor and director of the Graduate Program in Human Resources and Labor Relations at UW-Milwaukee, says it is common for employers to file objections after a union election.
“Often the purpose of the objections is to slow down the process of eventually reaching a contract, perhaps hoping that this composition of the workforce may change and new elections might not favor the union, or a first contract won’t be reached in a timely fashion,” Heywood says.
Bruenig noted that filing election challenges has been a tactic of delay for other coffee companies nationwide, like Starbucks Coffee Company.
“They’ve run that playbook. Starbucks has not reached any collective agreements with any of its stores, and there have been a number of [union] decertification petitions submitted,” Bruenig says. “It’s a standard playbook for bad actors.”
Elections, challenges and contracts at other Milwaukee coffee shops
Another popular coffee chain in Milwaukee weathered its own unionization battle recently, including challenges to its much tighter election results.
Workers at Colectivo Coffee voted to unionize under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, or IBEW, in 2021. Unlike Anodyne’s unanimous decision in favor of a union, only about 52% of Colectivo workers voted for unionization.
Colectivo initially challenged the election results, but ultimately agreed to a collectively bargained contract two years after the election.
John Jacobs, business manager with IBEW Local 494, said that while Colectivo and Andoyne’s stories have some differences —Colectivo’s workforce is about five times larger and covers workers in Wisconsin and Illinois — the process bears some resemblance.
“You really have to wait until its official,” he says. “There was a period of time that we had to get through that challenge. Once it was resolved, we could move forward.”
Once a deal is reached, Jacobs notes that collectively bargained contracts benefit both employees and employers. IBEW has made a point of purchasing Colectivo’s product for organizational events, including a local international meeting held in Milwaukee.
“Our International bought one pound bags for each of the attendees … and our Local agreed to purchase five, five-pound bags for raffle prices,” he says. “So not only is it a great working relationship by keeping lines of communication open, but [also] purchasing the product we produce.”
In the end, Anodyne workers like Syd Vinyard still have their eye on the main goal: securing that first collectively bargained contract.
“True victory will come when we get that first contract secured,” they say.
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