UWM student Maria Brondino has helped lead the push of unionization of Stone Creek Coffee with a goal of long-term betterment of employee conditions. This recent push has led to doubts among some co-workers and a scramble of the company owners.
If formed, the union would be the first of its kind in Wisconsin and one of a few specialty coffee workers’ unions in the country. Many of the 200 employees at Stone Creek would be eligible to join the union, including baristas, roasters, production, delivery drivers and master baristas, according to Brondino.
Brondino transferred to UWM from Columbia College of Chicago in the fall of 2017. Lately, she finds herself juggling a degree in English, work at the UWM student union and a job at Stone Creek. She started her job at Stone Creek as a barista in July 2018. Shortly thereafter in August 2018, Brondino was approached by two co-workers, one of them Michaela Caroline.
“They approached me saying ‘Hey, Kellie wants to form this union are you in on it?’ and I was like heck yeah I am,” said Brondino.
Pay and scheduling are two key issues that Brondino and her fellow union leaders said they hope to fix.
“Eight dollars an hour is not a living wage if God forbid you miss a shift; that means putting your ability to pay your rent in danger,” said Brondino.
Caroline is no longer with Stone Creek. His biggest issue was scheduling.
“Sick days were also very stressful as there was a time that I was in the hospital and had to head straight to work from there due to lack of sick days and shift coverage,” said Caroline.
“There’s really a big culture fear about calling in and losing your job,” said Brondino.
The group of co-workers approached Teamsters Local 344, Milwaukee’s chapter of the nationwide labor union Teamsters.
“This group of workers came to us and asked for some advice on how they could improve their wages, their hours and their working conditions,” said Bill Carrol of Teamsters Local 344.
“Once we had enough people signed up that we felt we would be insulated from an anti-union campaign, that’s when we filed the petition with Stone Creek Coffee,” said Carrol.
Early in the week of March 4, Teamsters filed the petition with Stone Creek to organize.
Stone Creek’s response was to hold workshops for their employees with the goal of educating them on the implications of forming a union, following their mantra “Never stop learning,” according to a Facebook statement by owners Eric and Melissa.
“It was composed of three parts,” said an anonymous employee at Stone Creek in reference to the workshops. “The first part was facts about what unions are and how unions work. The second part was about Stone Creek’s history, what Stone Creek was founded on and then the third part was a time for people to ask questions. The owner was committed to answering any question as clear and transparent as possible.”
The employee wanted to remain anonymous for work-related concerns. They voiced concerns about their co-workers forming a union, unsure of whether a union would be right for themselves or their co-workers.
“Who’s representing me potentially?” said the employee. “I think there is a lot of complexity to it that hasn’t been thought through yet.”
“We are one team working towards the same goal. The culture at Stone Creek encourages people speaking up about issues and not being afraid to voice their concerns,” said the employee. “Stone Creek has worked so hard over the past 25 years to create a culture like this, so why do they feel compelled they need a union?”
According to Brondino, however, speaking up has not always been so easy for her and co-workers.
“It’s a pressure to either conform to the company or leave,” said Brondino.
“I do think they tried to remain mostly neutral. There is always an unconscious bias in that situation no matter what,” said Brondino, referring to the workshops.
Stone Creek’s owners ultimately made themselves against unionization of their employees in their statement to the public on Facebook.
“We do not believe a union will benefit anyone at Stone Creek,” they said.
Ultimately, the possibility of a union forming rests upon a vote that will take place later in March 2019.
“The decision to move forward with a labor union, or to vote against the union, rests solely with our employees. There will be a vote in the coming weeks, and we encourage all eligible employees to vote in that election to make their voices heard. This is a learning experience for all of us,” said Eric and Melissa, co-owners of Stone Creek in their statement on Facebook.
This has been a learning experience for Brondino, too.
“I’m thinking after this experience I’m going to try to go into some sort of political science or international studies,” said Brondino.
“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think it was the best thing for my co-workers and to make the company a better place to work for everyone,” said Brondino. “We [the union organizers] don’t want the company to suffer.”
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