ReAnimator Coffee workers authorize strike, the second barista union to do so in 2 weeks

ReAnimator Coffee’s union authorized a strike this week, days ahead of a key bargaining session. It’s the second independent barista union to do so in two weeks.

“Ownership offers $11.29 barista starting rate and ... 92% of ReAnimator workers vote to authorize strike!” reads the post publicly announcing the strike vote on the Philadelphia Joint Board Workers United Instagram.

The union, which represents 26 employees across five ReAnimator cafes in the city, plans to strike if a contract is not reached at a bargaining session slated for Thursday.

The post goes into detail about some negotiations that have already taken place. According to the post, in a bargaining session earlier this month, “ReAnimator ownership offered baristas a starting rate of $10.75, which many workers started at 2 years ago. When the bargaining team asked the four owners if they could live off that wage, they were all silent. After several moments, the company’s principal owner, Mark Capriotti, said to his workers, ‘We are not the same people as you.’ ”

“Two counter offers later, [the] company is now offering $11.29 starting rate,” reads another slide.

Asked for comment, Capriotti said in a written reply that the quote in the post was a response to a question that’s been taken out of context. “As we said at that time, it was not intended to suggest any disrespect for our workers; we were simply trying to address the fact that owners and workers have different roles in the company that can’t be directly compared.”

Capriotti added that while the current base rate for new baristas is generally $10.75 an hour, ReAnimator instated a guaranteed tipped wage — in which the company supplements workers’ base pay if tips do not amount to a higher hourly minimum — in early 2020, pre-pandemic.

“Currently, our guaranteed rate is $17/hour,” Capriotti wrote. “Our December 8 proposal to the Union would increase the guaranteed rate (which applies to paid time off) to $19/hour.”

ReAnimator’s union and ownership started negotiating the economic terms of their contract earlier this fall, when workers expressed frustration at the slow pace of the process. Capriotti said the company sent its first counteroffer to the union on Nov. 30 — “once the parties had resolved almost all of the other contract provisions under discussion” — and sent others on Dec. 6 and 8.

Capriotti said that the union has not responded to the most recent counteroffer except to inform them of workers’ intent to strike if a tentative deal is not reached this Thursday.

Local 80, the nascent food-service labor union representing ReAnimator workers as well as those at Elixr, Vibrant, and Ultimo, shared a statement with The Inquirer on Tuesday afternoon. “Our members have made it clear that they are serious about settling an agreement with the employer that improves their working conditions. Management’s attempts to maintain the status quo in pay is not acceptable to our members. We hope the Employer has heard their message and comes ready to reach an agreement that both parties can celebrate.”

ReAnimator workers unionized in November 2022 and were voluntarily recognized by the cafe’s owners shortly after. (That, in part, inspired workers at sister establishment eeva to unionize last January; the Kensington bakery/pizzeria closed in October.)

Elixr Coffee’s union also authorized a strike late last month, just hours before a bargaining session. Elixr’s union and owner reached a tentative contract on Dec. 1. Workers ratified the contract last week.