Second Cup franchise owner Kathy Attis was in the wrong when she fired a barista last spring, the Nova Scotia Labour Board ruled last month. Attis expressed anti-union sentiment to her employees prior to a union vote and didn’t have a good reason to fire Ellen Graham the day before the vote, the board’s decision said. Prior to the vote, Attis sent employees a letter that said she was not in favour of unionization, but they were free to vote as they wished.
The three-member board unanimously concluded the employer discriminated against the barista, contrary to the Trade Union Act, and ordered Attis to pay Graham $420, minus statutory deductions. The decision meant Graham’s ballot was counted in the Quinpool Road cafe’s June 5 union vote. The employees voted in favour of unionizing.
Graham declined to comment for this story, as did union organizer Sebastien Labelle. Since the ruling is only partial, Labelle said the Service Employees International Union would refrain from commenting at this time. The labour board is expected to rule once more on whether Attis was in the wrong when she cut employees’ hours and fired two other baristas following the vote.
Labelle did say the SEIU is negotiating a collective agreement with Attis, who also owns a franchise Second Cup at the Halifax Shopping Centre. The store owner declined to comment for this story.
At the labour board hearing in August, Attis testified she became a “disciplinarian,” cutting employees’ hours and firing the three baristas to maintain order at the cafe. She said when the employees decided to unionize they acted as if they were entitled to run the store. The board could have ordered the franchise owner to reinstate Graham but didn’t due to the short period of time the barista was employed.
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This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2013.
Bunch of children playing “union” without accomplishing anything else in their lives.
If some “Adults” had more courage and less cynicism, this would be a much better world.
Best of luck to these folks, but I hope we don’t hear from them again if it gets to a point where Attis can only afford to keep one of her franchises open or has to reduce hours. Or, the most likely time we’ll hear from them, if the price of coffee goes up and, in turn, tips go down.
Tough talk from an internet troll
Unions need to be seen as a cost of doing business, like rent or taxes.
“Unions need to be seen as a cost of doing business, like rent or taxes.”
and shoplifting, vandalism, shakedowns, protection rackets.
Those aren’t the cost of doing business; they are impediments. And so are unions.
I wonder if union members are going to publish their wages, dues contributions, perks etc. I wonder if they will be anywhere ahead? I doubt it. Will this Second Cup be around for next Christmas, or will this union like CUPW price themselves out of business and jobs.