Employees at Philadelphia Coffee Chain Voted to Unionize – All Three Stores Closed Down a Week Later
Employees at a Philadelphia coffee chain may now be regretting their decision to form a union.
Just one week after staff at the OCF Coffee House informed him of their intention to unionize, owner and real estate developer Ori Feibush confirmed that he would be closing all three locations down.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:
Feibush, who met with available staff in person Monday afternoon, called the shutdown a difficult decision, citing rising costs, reduced sales, and the expiration of leases for a business that he said was never profitable during its 13 years.
”But we pushed forward because we understood the positive impact we were making in our communities and the importance to maintain a level of compensation and benefits … that you each deserved,” he wrote in an email announcing the decision to staff who did not attend Monday’s meetings.
Combined with financial and logistical headwinds, however, “the administrative and legal costs associated with your desire to organize has regrettably moved us beyond any cost that we could sustain,” he wrote.
According to Feibush, the business was already losing money. However, employees were already earning $20 to $25 an hour in wages as well as tips and health and dental benefits. Some will even receive severance pay.
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Speaking to the Inquirer, baristas Alex Simpson and Ava Alabiso said they were shocked by the decision.
“This does feel like retaliation,” said Alabiso. “It’s all just so incredibly sudden. We’re all just in the lurch trying to figure out what to do.”
“There was some talk of shutting down, but we genuinely believed that our connections with the community, especially in Fairmount, are so strong that he wouldn’t do it — we’re where people get their drinks and their lunch and have meetings every single day,” added Simpson.
It is never nice seeing people lose their livelihoods. However, until leftists get a basic understanding of how the economy works, such needless job losses will continue to take place.
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