Colectivo Coffee Workers Can Unionize After Ballot Recount

MILWAUKEE, WI — A National Labor Relations Board recount of disputed ballots cast by workers at Colectivo Coffee confirmed that the company's workers voted in favor of union representation.

With the additional ballots, Colectivo Coffee employees voted 106-99 for union representation by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Locals 494 and 1220.

The recount results were revealed to relevant NLRB election parties after they were opened Monday. IBEW Local 494 and Colectivo Coffee announced the final results online.

The recount included seven ballots that were previously challenged by Colectivo Coffee owners. Before the recount, the vote tally was 99-99. The NLRB review process determined the disputed ballots should be opened and counted, NLRB documents online showed.

The next step is for the workers' union representatives to meet with Colectivo owners to begin bargaining for a contract that will cover workers. The IBEW locals and Colectivo workers will negotiate terms of a contract that will cover the workers' conditions of employment, including wages, benefits and other matters.

"Colectivo workers have worked diligently for the opportunity to have their voices heard," IBEW Local 494 Business Manager Dean Marsh said in a statement. "IBEW Local 494 will begin moving forward with bargaining surveys and plans to assist them with their first negotiated contract."

Colectivo management did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment. The coffee company's owners posted "an open letter to our customers" to the company's website Monday.

"We are disappointed by this result because a majority of our coworkers did not vote in favor of unionization and because the NLRB counted votes of several individuals who announced their resignations prior to the close of the election," Colectivo owners said in the letter.

"We will, of course, respect the rules and bargain in good faith," Colectivo owners said.

Colectivo Coffee currently employees 440 people in Illinois and Wisconsin, with shops in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Shorewood, Wauwatosa and beyond, according to the owners. IBEW Local 494 representative John Zapfel said it could be the largest coffee cafe union in the country.

The election has yet to be certified, but IBEW Local 122o Business Manager John Rizzo told Patch the union is "very happy" with the results.

An Instagram account run by Colectivo union organizers and employees, colectivocollective, posted Monday, "Savoring this victory today, and soon, we'll begin writing our first contract!"

Employees at other coffee chains around Milwaukee have attempted to unionize but have been unsuccessful. Recently, workers at Milwaukee's Stone Creek Coffee chain mounted a unionization campaign but failed.