BRUNSWICK, Maine — Doug Born, president of the Southern Maine Labor Council, pulled up in front of the Little Dog Coffee Shop on Tuesday morning, then hauled a brand new rain shelter out of his trunk to shield striking workers from the elements.
“It looks like they’re going to be here for a while, which is too bad,” Born said.
Nearly a dozen unionized workers at the shop voted to strike over the weekend and began picketing the closed-down storefront on Maine Street on Monday. It’s the second time they’ve gone on strike since they unionized in December.
Workers standing in front of the coffee shop on Tuesday said they will be off the job for as long as it takes for the business owner to address their demands, which include hiring a manager and ceasing requiring employees to perform managerial tasks without compensation. That task was being made easier, they said, due to community support, including the shelter from Born, and cash donated to their strike fund.
“We made our $800 goal in just two days, so we’re extending our goal to $1,200,” said striker Chris Cushing.
The fund is being collected by the Maine Democratic Socialists of America, Cushing said. The money will be used to pay workers while they are off the job.
Members of the community have also brought workers cases of water, fruit, energy bars, coffee and doughnuts. One nearby business is letting strikers use their bathroom and the owner of Gulf of Maine Books, just down the street, gave them a $50 gift certificate to a downtown gelato maker.
On Monday, members of Local S6, the largest union at Bath Iron Works, joined the coffee shop strikers.
“It meant so much,” Cushing said. “Honestly, we cried a great deal yesterday.”
Workers at the Little Dog voted to unionize last fall and have picketed the store more than once already. They claim owner Larry Flaherty is failing to bargain with them in good faith and have filed three unfair labor practice complaints against the business with the National Labor Relations Bureau. The cases allege that Flaherty has engaged in coercion, refusal to bargain or bad faith bargaining and refusal to recognize or bargain with the union. All three remain open.
Among the complaints, Cushing said, include that the shop currently has no official, day-to-day manager and employees are being forced to perform managerial tasks without compensation or training.
“We can’t serve food because we have nobody trained to do that,” Cushing said.
As of Tuesday morning, Flaherty was unwilling to negotiate, only asking, via email, how long workers planned to stay off the job. Flaherty couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday.
Born also said he would try to authorize a $300 to $400 strike fund donation from the labor council.
Striking barista Sophie Creamer thanked him.
“I’d rather be inside making coffee, than out here picketing,” Creamer said. “But we’ll be here until the owner addresses the complaints we’ve filed against him.”
