Baristas Battle Private Equity In Unionization Effort

Sabrina Prochaska speaks at Anodyne union rally Wednesday, Oct. 8. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

For the better part of the past year, workers at Anodyne Coffee have been organizing a union to push back against the private-equity-backed ownership group that has cut wages and, they allege, made the customer experience worse.

In response, Kansas City-based FairWave Holdings LLC has attempted to avoid an organized labor force. Despite employees unanimously voting in favor of representation by the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization (MASH), Fairwave has repeatedly appealed the results, asking the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to toss the election.

MASH and the Anodyne workers’ union believe Fairwave is weaponizing the NLRB process to delay and hinder the recognition of the union and the negotiation of a contract. Fairwave is “weaponizing legal, bureaucratic, administrative processes to try to hold back what these workers have fought for and want: the right to collective bargaining,” said Peter Rickman, MASH president, at a press conference Wednesday morning.

The union would represent cafe and roastery workers 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.).

The latest appeal was filed Sept. 30, just before the federal government shut down. Anodyne workers are demanding that Fairwave recognize their union and bargain a contract. Twice NLRB officials have rejected Fairwave’s emails.

On June 6, Anodyne employees voted in an NLRB-supervised election. The prospective bargaining unit included 44 employees and 37 voted. All 37 cast a ballot in favor of union representation. Fairwave objected to the results, arguing five of the employees were supervisors and engaged in “pro-union conduct” that coerced their co-workers to vote for the union. The company also filed an objection, accusing the union of surveilling an Anodyne manager by following her as she left a cafe. However, Fairwave never provided any evidence or testimony to show it occurred.

The first time an NLRB official reviewed the facts of the case, the objections were found baseless. NLRB Hearing Officer Jessica Gibson went through Fairwave’s objections in detail and found “insufficient evidence” to support that the five employees had supervisory authority. Gibson also found that, even if they were supervisors, “their pro-union conduct was not objectionable and does not warrant setting aside the election results,” according to her report from July 31. Gibson recommended MASH be certified and recognized as the workers’ bargaining representative. An NLRB regional director made the same recommendation in September.

Fairwave representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Fairwave’s attorney, Jessica Roe of Roe Law Group, also did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

On Wednesday, Anodyne workers held a rally outside of the cafe in Walker’s Point. They issued a public demand for Fairwave to come to the negotiating table and begin bargaining a contract. The union is not asking supporters to boycott the cafes. They want the opposite, Rickman said, adding that there may come a time when workers ask the community to show solidarity in other ways.

Sabrina Prochaska, a union organizer and barista at the Bay View cafe (2920 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.), said she has never made a living wage during the decade she has worked in the service industry.

“Knowing our company has taken steps to further workers’ inability to meet basic needs in a city where the cost of living continues to skyrocket proves just how careless these private equity firms are,” Prochaska said.

Fairwave, a conglomerate of regional cafes, is owned by Great Range Capital, a private equity firm based in Missouri. MASH and Anodyne workers claim Great Range Capital is a roll-up venture intended to package a group of businesses for future sale. Since 2020, Fairwave has acquired 12 coffee and tea brands around the country.

Fairwave bought Anodyne in 2023. Anodyne founders, Matt McClutchy and Lacee Perry, became part-owners through the purchase.

After Fairwave bought Anodyne, employees said the company started implementing policies to cut costs at the expense of employees: lowering wages, understaffing and incentivizing managers with bonuses to save money on labor costs.

“They don’t care about the workers behind the counter, and certainly not about the customers in front of the counter,” said Mason Worklan, a barista. “What they care about is profit. The reason we know that is because fully trained baristas at Anodyne used to make $15 an hour. After FairWave bought the company, they cut that by $2.50. Fifteen dollars wasn’t enough to get by, but $12.50, sure as s— ain’t.”

Anodyne has long had a high standard for training and quality, Worklan said. It pays off, creating loyal customers, like Joe Kirschling, a regular at the cafe in Bay View, who took time to join Anodyne employees demanding recognition Wednesday.

“It seems they think they can squeeze their workers and siphon more money from our community, taking it out of state so they can buy another boat or whatever,” Kirschling said. “But this community isn’t having it. We support Anodyne Workers Union.”

As Anodyne employees attested Wednesday, service sector jobs are often “low wage, no benefit, casual contingent, part-time jobs,” Rickman said. 

“Coffee shops like this, though, define our community,” he said. “We need to ensure that the jobs that power our communities, whether it’s in coffee houses or hotels or restaurants, are good, family supporting jobs.”

Existing members must be signed in to see the interactive map. Sign in.