January 2, 2026

Blue Bottle Coffee baristas are fighting for a living wage

Baristas at the Blue Bottle Coffee formed a union in 2024, fighting and organizing for better living wages and working conditions, according to their website. 

Blue Bottle Baristas Independent Union (B.B.I.U) announced its formation in April 2024. These baristas work for the company Blue Bottle Coffee, which is owned by Nestlé. The workers at five out of six existing stores in the state of Massachusetts read out loud a letter to upper management calling for the company to recognize the union by April 8, and demanded that management immediately begin bargaining in good faith. Blue Bottle’s management failed to voluntarily recognize them by the deadline. In response, the baristas conducted a state-wide walkout and filed for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election. 

The BBIU’s reason to unionize is because Blue Bottle does not pay its baristas enough to cover their basic needs, does not allow input on cafe operations, and is hostile towards its workers. Many of the workers live paycheck to paycheck. Workers are unable to afford to live in the city where they work. Work being done by Blue Bottle baristas is what makes the company continue to thrive and produce profit.They are fighting for a living wage, scheduling security, democratic control of the workplace, and  protection from harassment in the workplace.

Nestlé, a multinational corporation worth over $270 billion, obtained ownership of Blue Bottle in 2017 for over $400 million. Blue Bottle promotes high-quality specialty coffee. The company prides itself on paying premium prices and makes long-term commitments with producers, which includes single growers and estates, averaging five to eight years, as it allows them to learn how coffee’s flavor profile evolves. 

In the state of Massachusetts, BBIU enjoys wide support by customers, community members, a network of legal services organizations, and other unions locally, regionally, and nationally. BBIU calls itself an independent union as it believes a union is run best when it is democratically run by rank-and-file workers. The union structure allows for direct democratic control, “run by the workers, and for the workers” to develop their demands, campaign strategy, and budget.

You can help or support them by making a one-time or recurring donation to their strike fund. Funds also go to orientation materials, website, food, and hosting union events. You can also support by filling out a community supporter form to be updated on the campaign, join any upcoming events, promote, and post information about the campaign.

One of the Baristas is named Alex Pine (they, them), aka Gonzo. They’re the president of the Boston chapter of the BBIU and have been an organizer of six campaigns in Boston and the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. They organized the Solidarity Sip-in, a union action that had supporters show up and drink coffee on September 19. Supporters turned out in numbers at the stores in Berkeley and Piedmont.  

Pine said, “the Sip-ins were an opportunity for baristas to publicly express their support for the union effort in both cities and their frustration with how long it’s taken for the company to negotiate a first contract with us, as well as to see how well we can mobilize supporters to action.”

On October 15 and 16, 2025, the union and the company met to negotiate. It has been a year since the first attempt at a first contract and the company has not accepted any of the union’s proposals such as a living wage, improved healthcare benefits, 401k match, or a holiday pay increase. It has been made clear to the company that what they pay their workers is not a living wage as many in the Boston area rely on government assistance programs like SNAP/EBT. Most employees are rent-burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

Pine expressed the Union’s frustration that it has been almost a year since they started negotiating a contract, and Blue Bottle has refused to give any counterproposals to any of the Union’s economic proposals. Of the 70 locations of the existing Blue Bottle shops, the Union represents 9 locations, which is 12% of the total stores. The union hoped for the Blue Bottle company to give them a complete response to their entire set of proposals in the bargaining session that was held on October 15 and 16. In past negotiations, management has claimed many times that they have “a management right” to not make firm agreements, and be able to make changes during the duration of a contract, which Pines finds to be absurd. By the end of the year, they hope that they will receive a full complete response to all of their proposals and secure their non-economic demands like seniority for promotions, a process that helps workers with more years working at a location to get promoted faster, a fair process for promotions, a fair dress code, more options for workers attire, being able to express support for the union, and protection from workplace harassment.

The company withdrew its promotion proposal because the parties were “too far apart.” The company expressed that it does not want to provide written explanations for promotion decisions, posting job openings would create “duplicitous effort,” and interviewing ALL who apply is a “waste of time”, referring to those employees that the company has already deemed as unworthy of consideration.

The union states that during negotiations, the company’s lawyer asked if they were “dregs” who were going to leave in under 30 days. The lawyer stated that “some of them are not valuable workers” when the subject of the feelings of workers not being valued was brought up. Throughout sessions, the company’s lawyer used unprofessional language such as calling the communication between both parties “bullshit” and comparing filing unfair labor practice charges to “children running to mom and dad.” He also interrupted and shushed union members. The company will not engage in profit-sharing “with the way this unit has behaved” and until it is convinced that increasing the wage will make them more money, the lawyer said. The company is demanding a broad no-strike clause so workers would not be allowed to stop working even during safety and health emergencies. The union used examples in California when stores were forced to stay open during the wildfires or sewage backups. 

Blue Bottle Independent Union is asks for support for a barista in the  East Bay Area named  Alexa Matthews. Alexa is at risk of becoming homeless because the company does not pay a living wage. Alexa states that for over two months she has struggled in finding housing and as of October 15, she and her dog will no longer have a home. She argues that if Blue Bottle paid their baristas an Iiving wage, she wouldn’t be in this position. In the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area, a living wage for a single adult is around $30 per hour  while baristas get paid $20 per hour. Baristas have resorted to to skipping meals, selling their blood plasma or just being homeless. The union isn’t fighting for luxury, it is fighting in order to have a living wage, so workers can afford their rent. 

You can help by donating to their strike fund. Since the union is 100% independent and run by working baristas at Blue Bottle, it relies entirely on voluntary dues by members and donations by community supporters to replace wages during strike. Follow their social media for other calls for action. 

X(twitter): @bbunion.bsky.social 

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by Abigail Banales Sendano