Jess McAllen in The Baffler:
Earlier this year, the founder of Think Coffee sent out an email to his more than one hundred employees with the subject line “Opening a Dialog Between Us.” Workers at the ethically minded coffee chain had been organizing a union drive across its eleven New York City stores, and Jason Scherr wasn’t thrilled. “It has come to my attention that some of you may be considering whether to join a labor union,” he wrote, going on to add that “it pains me to learn that some of you feel that your problems and concerns are not being heard.”
These emails have become commonplace, according to his employees. “He’s very much seeing [unionization] as going against Think’s culture,” said cashier Hannah. “We’ve gotten at least ten of them,” added Halle, a baker. Workers say the emails, all sent over the past five months, attacked the union and suggested employees not join. In his initial email, Scherr claimed that the city’s shift to working from home because of Covid-19 had significantly cut into the chain’s profits.
More here.
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