Baristas lead union push in Middle Tennessee

Unions have historically been associated with factory workers and those in the automotive industry. In Tennessee, food service employees – particularly baristas – are leading the labor organization push.

In Knoxville, Memphis and Murfreesboro, there’s been various efforts to unionize local Starbucks locations. While in Nashville, much of the labor organizing is taking place at smaller, independent shops – like Three Brothers Coffee and Barista Parlor.

In this episode, we talk to community members who are leading the unionization efforts about why they want a union and some of the pushback they’ve received from their employers. We’ll also hear from labor groups about the history of unions in Tennessee.

We reached out to Three Brothers and Barista Parlor for comment. We did not hear back from Three Brothers before the beginning of the show, but Andy Mumma of Barista Parlor sent a statement:

Unionization is an employee right, and Barista Parlor respects that right. We have not and would not attempt to curtail that right.  

 We fully reject the claims that have been made. We will not comment further as there is a pending charge with the NLRB.  That is the appropriate forum to address these false allegations, which is what we will do.

But first, host Khalil Ekulona and digital lead Anna Gallegos-Cannon respond to listener feedback in the weekly segment At Us.

Guests:

• Xóchitl Cruz-López, former Barista Parlor employee
• Fern Welch, former Three Brothers Coffee employee
• Paige McCay, organizer with ROC Music City
• A.J. Starling,  Tennessee AFL CIO‘s secretary-treasurer

Previous coverage: 

• WPLN: Workers at Three Brothers Coffee in Nashville vote to unionize, making them among the first in the state
• WPLN: As more Tennessee coffee workers seek better wages and working conditions, one Barista Parlor employee says she was fired for trying