Anodyne Refusing to Bargain With Workers’ Union

Anodyne Coffee Roasting Co. 224 W. Bruce St. Photo taken April 15, 2025 by Graham Kilmer.

Anodyne Coffee workers are demanding that the Milwaukee area coffee chain bargain a contract with their union.

This year, workers organized a union with the help of the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH). In June, a majority of the employees voted in favor of union representation during a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) supervised election.

The company that owns Anodyne, Fairwave Holdings LLC, still has not recognized the union and agreed to bargain a contract. Instead, according to MASH, Fairwave has appealed the results of the June election twice. The latest appeal was filed Sept. 30, one day before the federal government shutdown.

The Anodyne workers’ union is now planning a public campaign demanding that Fairwave representatives come to the bargaining table.

Fairwave did not respond to a request for comment.

The union would represent approximately 50 full-time and part-time baristas and cafe employees, event staff, roastery employees, and assistant general managers at Anodyne’s four cafes: Milwaukee Public Market, Wauwatosa (7471 Harwood Ave.), Bay View (2920 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) and the Walker’s Point roastery (224 W. Bruce St.).

Fairwave is a Missouri-based company that bought Anodyne in 2023. Its majority owner is Missouri-based private equity firm Great Range Capital. Anodyne founders, Matt McClutchy and Lacee Perry, became part-owners in Fairwave through the purchase.

The NLRB appeal process has been used by other local coffee companies trying to push back against employee unionization. After workers voted in favor of union representation, the owners of Colectivo Coffee appealed the decision to the NLRB, which ultimately rejected the appeal. The move dragged out the unionization process, which lasted three years.

That’s only one way the Anodyne owners have echoed Colectivo’s opposition to labor organization.

In April, Anodyne workers demanded union recognition. And just like Colectivo’s owners, Fairwave responded with a letter from company President Isaac Hodges, telling employees the owners didn’t think unionization was “in the best interest of our team or our culture.”

At the outset of the Anodyne campaign, MASH president Peter Rickman noted that companies can use the NLRB process to slow down unionization, buying time to push back.

“Anodyne workers are ready to negotiate their first collective bargaining agreement and are ready to fight for the contract they deserve to overcome the delays and obstruction,” MASH said in a statement.

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