Collective Bargaining Has Begun at Rosso Coffee Roasters!
Your bargaining committee met with the employer’s committee to exchange proposals for Collective Bargaining on August 25th. This meeting marks another exciting beginning: the start of collective bargaining between UFCW Local 401 and Rosso Coffee and an important step towards reaching a first collective agreement for your workplace.
When exchanging proposals, the Union spoke to the issues that drove Rosso Coffee workers to join a union in the first place: a desire for increased health and safety, and consistency when it comes to things like scheduling, time off, and benefits. We spoke to the challenges associated with needing to rely on tips to make up part of your wages in the current affordability crisis.
We also recognized that the work you do in specialty coffee is unique and that working for a small business has its own challenges – in the spirit of collaboration, we also looked to highlight places in which we think that UFCW and your employer might find common ground.
Please take a moment to review your Union’s and the Employer’s ingoing proposal packages:
We have exchanged both non-monetary and monetary proposals, in part because we want to give your Employer ample time to consider some of the changes we’ve proposed to things like compensation and benefits.
Your bargaining committee consists of Shawn Templeton, Anastasia Tsakos, Elissa Blunden, and Kinslee Aldred. These four committee members each work in different locations and are well suited to be able to speak to the different needs of all workers at Rosso Coffee. We were also joined by Ricardo de Menezes, the Union’s Southern Director, Devin Yeager, the Union’s Negotiations Coordinator, James Russwurm, who was part of the organizing campaign, and Noah Mogesse, your Union Labour Relations Officer.
The initial meeting itself went well. Both sides expressed optimism and hope that this step will mark a fresh start in the relationship between UFCW 401, our members and Rosso Coffee following the initial organizing campaign. We begin with shared goals of building trust and fostering a respectful working environment while still striving to achieve the best possible contract for all.
We have set dates for collective bargaining in November and December, and will be looking at our schedules in September and October to see if we can find some dates to meet even sooner.
We’ll continue to update you as we progress as part of our open and transparent bargaining processes. Please update your contact information with us if you haven’t so that you can receive updates via email directly.
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your ULRO Noah (by email: [email protected] or phone: 587.582.7256) or your Negotiator, Emily Machura ([email protected]). You can also speak directly with your bargaining committee for updates and to ask them questions as well.
In solidarity,
Your Union
UFCW Local 401
Posted on: August 26,2026