10/26/2020
The Baristas of Mocha Joe's have released the following public statement with regard to their ongoing strike for a fair wage and a safe work environment. The members of TUB stand with workers in their struggle for equitable treatment. This statement also addresses many of the claims made by Mocha Joe's management in their public statement. Please share widely, along with the below petition, to show your support for worker's rights!!!
https://www.change.org/p/help-the-employees-of-mocha-joe-s-cafe-receive-a-livable-wage?redirect=false
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To our Brattleboro community,
There has been a lot of misinformation spread about what is going on over at our beloved coffee shop. We would like a chance for you to hear what we, the employees, have to say on the situation. This job is one that we all cherish and work our hardest at every day. We know that for Brattleboro, Mocha Joe’s Cafe is an integral part of our downtown community. From our welcoming interior to our pay-it-forward card we strive to keep our cafe a cozy hub for anyone needing something to warm them up.
Our strike is in no way an attack on Ellen and Pierre. We all recognize what they have done for us and our community. However, when we first sent them the email containing our demands, the response was dismissive and an insufficient call to negotiations. They mistook our reply for a refusal to speak or negotiate, when it was meant to let them know that until an agreement is made we will continue to strike. Yesterday, we sent an email explaining that miscommunication and that we are open to negotiations. We have not yet received a response. Even efforts to reach out to our manager have been unfruitful.
We are grateful for our jobs as many of us have spent our entire lives in poverty. Before the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, many of us were working up to three jobs trying to keep ourselves afloat. A big misconception we have been seeing thrown around is that “all Mocha Joe’s employees make between $15-18 and hour.” This is inherently untrue. We do not know where they got these numbers, but we have calculated our average hourly wages (including tips) using the numbers from our last four paystubs. All of our baristas get paid $10 an hour from the company. With tips, our pay averages to be about $13.50 an hour. However, this pay is extremely inconsistent. During leaf peeper season, when the cafe is busier, we tend to make a little bit more in tips. Other weeks we’ll make a lot less. It all depends on how busy of a week it is and how willing people are to support their baristas on any given day. We are striving to make $15 an hour. This doesn’t mean we are demanding we make $15 before tips. It is us desiring to know we will be making $15/hour if tips fall short.
Regarding hazard pay; we have received one bonus compensating our work for the first three months after reopening. The bonus was funded by a grant and consisted of $3 for every hour we have worked since our doors have opened up again. Getting even that took a lot of back and forth with management and there have been no plans that we’ve heard of for consistent hazard pay. We are not looking for inconsistent bonuses here and there, we are looking for a steady income so that every month we will be able to afford food and pay our rent. The bonuses we received were also taxed and affected some of our Unemployment eligibility for the week they were issued. For one of us this meant actually losing $200 and not making rent on time. We had asked Ellen and our manager Bam to issue the bonuses in a way that would not affect our UE. This was ignored.
As far as PPE goes, we have received a few boxes of masks and are supplied with hand sanitizer. Our demand is for consistent restocking of PPE. Lately our baristas have had to pay out of pocket for masks for both ourselves and the public. We have put in multiple requests for more masks but we have not yet seen management step in to get them ordered at the rate they are used. In order to protect our community in the small, unventilated, basement cafe we need to be able to supply masks to those who do not have them.
As baristas we have the ability to not serve those that make us feel unsafe. People who are being too aggressive, those we know have harmed folks in our town, rapists, and alike can all be asked to leave the cafe at the barista’s discretion. Mark Carignan is a brattleboro police officer with multiple sexual assault allegations against him, and was involved in the murder of a Brattleboro community member by the name Michael J. Santiago. The incident that spurred us to demand we no longer have to serve individuals who make us feel unsafe was when a barista wrote the acronym “ACAB” on the bottom of Carignan’s cup. Our coworker was fired with no notice and no warning. Earlier this year another barista had drawn a pig on the bottom of Carignan’s cup. Our manager responded by saying that “it couldn’t happen again." The barista that was fired recently was not an employee at that time and was not aware of the history with this one particular cop. We all tried to speak with Ellen and Pierre explaining this but neither of them showed any sign of budging from their unjust decision.
In light of recent events surrounding the retreat, we would like to recognize the fact that they have laid off 85 of their employees. They have also cut four of their programs including the addiction treatment hub, the addiction management program, the early learning center, and the K-12 school. This is a big hit to our community and we hope that people will shift some of their energy towards learning more about this situation.
Our strike was meant as a demonstration for those closely involved with Mocha Joe’s, not to take away from other important matters happening in our town. This was not an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the cafe that we do truly love, but rather a final attempt at making our needs visible. We hope this has helped to clear up some of the uncertainty going around.
Sincerely,
The Baristas of Mocha Joe’s Cafe 10/25/20
https://vtdigger.org/2018/07/17/brattleboro-officer-alleges-gender-discrimination/
https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/officer-identified-in-brattleboro-shooting/article_4dd12440-cbc9-5f07-9875-880ae27fb400.html
Help the Employees of Mocha Joe's Cafe Receive a Livable Wage
