“I don’t really understand this whole thing,” Debra Moore says when asked about ongoing negotiations between Just Us! Coffee and the Service Employees International Union. “The unions would know the process better than I do.”
After two baristas were allegedly dismissed from the roastery and cafe chain for unionizing, labour activists continue pressuring the company with protests and informal boycotts. But for the Spring Garden cafe, business has remained reliable. “Business always slows down this time of year, with the mass exodus of students,” says head barista Stu Cochrane.
Currently, a labour board hearing date has been set for June 27, between Just Us! and the union. However, both parties are still trying to come to an agreement before that date. They’re meeting this week about the two dismissed employees; they’ll also discuss how Just Us! can create a friendly environment for the union. “I’m pretty optimistic at this point,” says Jason Edwards, a union organizer with the SEIU.
Meanwhile, the SEIU keeps pushing back. Backed by the union, three employees filed a new complaint to the labour board on Monday, alleging that the company has repeatedly overlooked work breaks on shifts over five hours. Edwards says the complaint “shows the obvious nature of why people wanted to organize.”
At press time, management hadn’t yet received the document and couldn’t be reached to respond to it. But Cochrane has said that he regularly receives a break on his shifts and that Just Us!’ policy around breaks is one of the best in the food and beverage industry.
“We’re not really sure what they’re talking about at this point because nobody’s putting their cards at the table,” says Debra Moore. “Adversarial stuff just isn’t in my nature. Solutions that are win-win for everybody: that’s my goal. It might be naïve.”
This article appears in May 2-8, 2013.
Who is Debra Moore?
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James Solkin
Santropol Coffee Roasters
Montreal
I have known Debra and Jeff Moore as well as Just Us! for many years. This situation represents nothing more than the often unfortunate result of an encounter between bullshit and quality. This is not the first time that Just Us! has had to deal with this kind of dynamic, or been shot in the back by jealous wannabes… but as before I am sure that they will be able, in their gentle and humble way, to rise above it and move on. Good works, good will, and good reputation are always perceived as the enemy by those who attempt to camouflage and deny their own lack of courage and talent by trying to denigrate those who have had the courage and talent to deliver on their ideals. Not to mention that there might be a buck or two in it… Because of their gentle way combined with their ‘success’, Just Us! in this case are perceived as ‘low-hanging fruit’ by what in this latest attack looks like a few frustrated hipsters. This is not a ‘union vs. coop’ issue. This is just a a story about a few egos trying to drag down a beautiful project in the name of their own self-obsessed and up till now unsuccessful quest for a ‘life’. What a shame. Just Us! will be vindicated. James Solkin Santropol Coffee Roasters Montreal, Quebec
“Edwards says the complaint “shows the obvious nature of why people wanted to organize.” ” Umm, have labour laws changed over the years? If not, then not getting breaks for work over five hours is not a need for a union, it’s simply a need to go to the labour board. By law, in Nova Scotia, employees who work over five hours are entitled to a break.
While, I don’t know if a union is needed for this location for other reasons, citing lack of break time is not a reason to unionize.
Actually, that is a fairly recent change to the Labour Standards Code – up until a couple years ago, employers were not required to give any type or break during a shift.
It makes me sick that these self-entitled brats are trying to bring down an amazing business like Just Us. Maybe they should try opening their own business and see how hard it is. Certainly there are no breaks for an entrepreneur! Don’t take a good thing for granted. Unions will destroy the restaurant industry, and all that will be left are Boston Pizzas and Starbucks. It’s bad enough the amount of gov’t regulation that makes it hard for businesses to thrive in the downtown core. Now this? Let small independent business thrive for a vibrant downtown. Support local business owners, not self-righteous brats!
C. Mike Hunt:
No, employers were required, that’s why I asked if laws had changed. Back in my days in retail/service, twenty five years ago, the rules were: four hour shift=15 min. paid break; six hour shift= 30 min. unpaid; seven hours= two 15 min. paid, one hour unpaid. That wasn’t something the places I worked made up, those were the laws. It may be different, now.
“Adversarial stuff just isn’t in my nature. Solutions that are win-win for everybody: that’s my goal. It might be naïve.”
I think “It’s my way or the Highway” a more true representation of Debra Moore’s managerial style. That’s not ‘win-win’.
“Adversarial stuff just isn’t in my nature”
Does illegally firing employees for organizing a union count as adversarial?
SEIU is desperate for union dues. I think I’ll drop by and buy a coffee.
It is quite interesting how individuals unquestioningly accept the ‘fair trade’ sell. ‘Fair Trade’ is no different from any other elitist enterprise aimed at the upper classes to feel better about their wealth, their power, their affluence, their delicate sense of self. It’s nothing new. Businesses that purport to ’empower’ the so-called third world by exploiting them via fairer trade practices have been around for decades. In my opinion there is little to no difference between a of Joe Fresh – empowerment/exploitation of poor through wages – and empowerment/ exploitation of poor through trade. Think about power people. And the proof is in the pudding. Any employer that flouts its power by exploiting its employees is corrupt, no matter how seemingly insignificant the exploitation. And if you manipulate the public with a ‘do good’ ethos as justification, well that is just vulgar beyond belief. If consumers really give a crap about justice, you will pass up coffee among many other products and support local producers. But everyone wants their cake and to feel good about eating it.
@ whimsical:
An interesting tirade, but you seem confused. You say consumers should “…pass up coffee among many other products and support local producers”. Do you know any local coffee growers? I didn’t realize climate change has had such an effect as to permit NS to grow coffee beans.
On the subject of local, Just Us! is a local coffee roaster, and to my knowledge, one of the first in Canada to actively seek out and establish fair trade practices with their growers. Up to this point, they have also enjoyed a reputation as a responsible corporate citizen.
While I agree there is far too much exploitation of third world producers by large Western Corporations (and for that matter, far too much exploitation of Western Producers and workers by large Western Corporations) I believe this is not the case with Just Us!.
Why don’t you walk yourself over to their site and learn some of their story before condemning them as an evil empire?
It is attitudes like yours that help keep businesses out of Nova Scotia. Someone works hard to build a company up, generate jobs and pay taxes and doing it ethically no less, and someone like you comes along and wants to tear them down with nothing but conjecture.