Verve Coffee, a prominent coffee company based in the Bay Area, is facing a significant labor dispute as around 60 employees have initiated steps to form a union.
On Monday, after a bustling Labor Day shift, workers from several locations, including one café in San Francisco and two in Santa Cruz, delivered a letter to management outlining their intentions.
The workers have expressed concerns over pay disparities, erratic scheduling, and a lack of transparency from the company’s leadership, issues they allege have been inadequately addressed.
In their statement, the organizing employees articulated, “We joined Verve because of the ideals you claim to stand for: community, collaboration, and mutual respect.
These attributes are highlighted most notably in Verve’s relationship with growers, and we want them to extend to all of Verve’s employees.”
An official union vote is expected later this week, where management representatives will be elected.
Currently, the unionization effort focuses on Verve’s baristas, but there is potential for the campaign to expand to include roasters and other employees.
In response to the growing movement, a spokesperson for Verve Coffee Roasters stated, “We love our team and will always have their back.
While we do not believe a third-party organization is needed to serve the best interest of our team, we will respect the outcome regardless.”
In addition to the unionization efforts, Verve Coffee is currently under investigation by San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement for possible violations of the city’s Health Care Security Ordinance.
This ordinance mandates that businesses with more than 20 employees set aside funds to provide healthcare benefits, or alternatively, contribute to equivalent medical expenses for their workers.
Employers with 100 or more employees must allocate $3.85 per hour for each worker not receiving full-time benefits.
Verve Coffee’s healthcare spending from 2022 to 2025 is specifically being scrutinized as part of this audit.
In the past few months, Verve Coffee garnered attention for imposing a 5% surcharge on orders aimed at funding health and other employee benefits.
However, this charge led to tensions between café employees and management, particularly because many baristas work part-time and do not qualify for healthcare benefits.
Although Verve stated that 75% of its retail employees are eligible for health benefits, they did not reveal how many actually receive them.
Founded in 2007 by Colby Barr and Ryan O’Donovan, Verve is a privately held company and has not disclosed its financial data to the public.
Industry analysts estimate that the company’s annual revenue exceeds $62 million, employing over 250 individuals across locations in California and Japan.
In comparison, Blue Bottle Coffee, which was purchased by Nestlé in 2017, has an estimated annual revenue of $386 million.
In a similar labor movement, workers at four East Bay Blue Bottle locations formed their own union last month, fueled by concerns over economic exploitation and inadequate health care benefits.
Approximately 50% of Verve’s revenue derives from its cafés and wholesale operations, with the other half coming from online sales.
The company has also recently partnered with Capital One to deliver Verve coffee to 50 of the banking firm’s cafés across the nation, marking an expansion in its outreach.
image source from：sfstandard
