The SEIU Local 2 union has reached a settlement with Java Blend after former employees announced a boycott of the coffee company on April 28.
Because of the settlement, the union is calling for an end to the boycott, according to a post on the union’s Facebook page.
“We hope you will visit to grab a coffee and say ‘Hi!’ to our newly unionized workforce!” the post says.
Nine former employees of Java Blend, including four leaders of a union drive, were fired on Jan. 23. An Unfair Labour Practice Complaint, filed by the SEIU against Java Blend, claims that those job terminations were illegal.
Java Blend said the layoffs were to maintain “financial stability.”
The former employees called for a boycott at a rally outside the company’s North Street location on April 28, according to a news release from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2 union.
In the settlement, Java Blend will “start recalling terminated employees.”
The bargaining unit would include the Cortado, Coastal and Java Blend cafes, the post says.
In the next four weeks, the union and the company will start “good-faith bargaining” to negotiate a collective agreement.
