Workers from eight St. Louis-area Kaldi’s Coffee locations publicly announced their campaign to form a union on Wednesday, citing poor work conditions and low pay.
More than 100 people gathered for a rally Wednesday in front of the coffee company’s roastery and headquarters on Gratiot Street in St. Louis’ Forest Park Southeast neighborhood. The group included Kaldi’s workers, community members and people from several local unions including Starbucks Workers United and the American Postal Workers Union.
The labor dispute at the company started in August when workers at the Skinker Boulevard location protested over a lack of air conditioning, drainage problems in the kitchen and the reputed firing of an employee for raising issues with management.
Kaldi's said in a statement that it respects its employees' right to unionize.
"Any decision about unionization belongs to them, and we'll continue to follow the established legal process," a Kaldi's spokesperson said.
The statement said Kaldi's pay and benefits are competitive and fair.
Kaldi’s worker Iana McAllister said that sewage backed up into the kitchen four times and that the air conditioning broke during the summer, driving kitchen temperatures to 100 degrees or higher.
“We just want better working conditions,” McAllister said. “We also want higher pay, we want better health insurance, and we also just want to be treated with dignity and respect like we all as humans deserve.”
McAllister, who is Black, also said when she was applying for a kitchen lead position, management instead hired a white coworker whom she had trained.
The Skinker location already has a supermajority of workers willing to unionize, and the other seven stores are working toward that same goal.
Kaldi’s employee Harry Campbell, who also works at the Skinker location, said organizing has already helped improve conditions.
“When the A/C broke down for the third time this summer, and management still wasn't fixing it, we didn't just complain to each other anymore and hope things got better, we delivered a petition and went on strike,” Campbell said. “Guess what? Fixed immediately.”
A spokesperson for Kaldi's refuted workers' claims about sewage issues, instead saying that licensed contractors identified it as a drainage issue. Additionally, they say each time the air conditioning broke, they hired HVAC providers to fix the issue as soon as possible.
Campbell and McAllister are both leaders of the Missouri Workers Center, which is the organization helping the Kaldi’s workers unionize. Unite Here Local 74, which helps hospitality workers unionize, is also involved.
Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, of the 7th Ward, said she plans to introduce a resolution on Friday that affirms the Board of Aldermen’s support for the right of Kaldi’s employees to organize.
“I think that organizing is a right that every worker should have unquestionably,” Sonnier said.
This story has been updated with comments from Kaldi’s officials.
See photos of Wednesday's rally by St. Louis Public Radio's visuals editor Brian Munoz.
