HALIFAX – A Halifax coffee shop has unionized, months after two baristas were dismissed for what they claimed, at the time, was their attempts to unionize.
Employees at Just Us Coffee Roasters on Spring Garden Road can now unionize and the company will let SEIU Local 2 be the bargaining agent for the location.
In a news release, General Manager Debra Moore states no other locations are unionized at this time.
However, Moore says that if a new coffee shop were to open in the Halifax area, Just Us has agreed to recognize a union at the new location. She adds that if a majority of employees at any other current Just Us locations want to unionize, the company would also recognize it.
In early April, two baristas, Shay Enxuga and Elijah Williams, alleged that they were let go from the Spring Garden coffee shop because they tried to form a union.
At the time, Just Us told Global News that the company was not aware of attempts to unionize but was open to the idea of unions. Moore also said at the time that she could not comment on the reasons the employees were dismissed, citing employee confidentiality.
In the news release Friday, it seems both sides have come to an agreement that there was a “misunderstanding between the parties” and “the terminations were unrelated to union activity”.
The company states it is willing to reinstate both Williams and Enxuga. The pair declined requests for comments. Calls to the union were not immediately returned.
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