Cooks, bakers, and baristas at both Wydown coffee shop locations in D.C. have filed an intent to form a union after they say their concerns about mismanagement and mistreatment have gone unaddressed.
According to the Instagram page for Wydown Workers United, the employees claim that “management has demonstrated a consistent pattern of disregard for the concerns we have brought to their attention in recent months.”
“At both stores, we perceive a lack of urgency in maintaining facilities and equipment,” the post says. “Management has consistently dismissed our concerns regarding espresso machines breaking down in the middle of the day, drains clogging and sewage flooding the floor, recurring lapses in stock, growing pest problems and structural failures.”
The workers are seeking to join the Workers United Mid-Atlantic Regional Joint Board, which represents employees in laundry, fitness, food service, hospitality, manufacturing, and apparel across D.C., Delaware, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Wydown ownership responded two days after workers posted their letter of intent online and has chosen to not voluntarily recognize the union. According to their official X account, Wydown Workers United has now filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board and will schedule a vote soon. Pro-union workers need a majority of votes cast to win certification. The employees cite short staffing and under-resourcing as two major sources of concern.
Workers from the H Street shop, located on the ground floor of the Apollo apartment building, claim that they were “recently subjected to overt, ongoing verbal abuse at the hands of [their] General Manager,” according to their Instagram post. Despite this manager’s removal, the union claims that workers there are “still experiencing the effects of mismanagement.”
Holly Costanzo, a barista at The Wydown on H Street, says that problems there reached a new height when the general manager arrived. (Wydown workers have declined to identify the manager).
Costanzo says the manager would raise his voice at employees. “There were instances where he was supposed to show up for certain shifts, like training shifts with the bakery or kitchen, and he just wouldn’t show up,” Costanzo tells City Paper. “And another co-worker asked him, ‘Hey, where were you? They expected you at the bakery.’ And he raised his voice and shouted, ‘That’s none of your concern. That’s none of your business!’”
Costanzo says that even though this general manager has been removed, issues at the coffee shop still remain. She says they “run out of supplies, like matcha or certain things to make our syrup,” and management is slow to replenish them. She also describes issues with the store’s infrastructure. “We’ve had structural issues, like part of our counter top fell off and that was maybe a month ago … [and] issues with the drain” that have not yet been resolved. “Another really big thing is that we are extremely short-staffed. … It’s very difficult for workers to take breaks because there’s no one to cover it. And also, there’s so much work that needs to be done during the day.”
Christopher Chandler, a barista at the 14th Street location, says, “[There have been] several times where there’s flooding on the floor, and I don’t know the exact health codes, but I just can’t imagine that’s acceptable,” Chandler says. “And mentally it’s just tough to have the flooding going on and not close the store down.”
Tom Friedl also works at the 14th Street location and handles the burgeoning union’s social media account. He says, “There’s a pretty significant disconnect between what the staff feel should be prioritized and what the owners and the upper management feel is worth prioritizing.”
“I think because we are the people that [customers] see on a daily basis, they believe us when we say there are problems and it’s nice to know that they trust us like that,” Friedl says.
Across the U.S., and in D.C., unions have been forming in recent years in the hospitality industry, from Starbucks to fast food workers.
“The majority of the time when you go to a coffee shop and you order lavender latte, the person making that for you is making $11 an hour, they don’t have health insurance, and they’re not working enough hours to make any of that work,” Friedl says.
