I want to help myself and my coworkers ask our employer for fair compensation. Due to the small size of the business (a local coffee chain with only about 30 employees), and the undeniable fact that nearly all of the employees are severely underpaid and overworked, I think this is possible and a conversation that’s been quietly happening for a while. As far as work environments go it’s pretty laid back and the staff gets along really well. The cafe also has regular meetings of the entire staff where this could easily be discussed. they pride themselves on “sustainability” and working with individual coffee producers to ensure they’re being paid a “fair price” (obviously there’s some bullshit in there) but for a quickly expanding cafe where baristas are expected to make craft espresso drinks — having to train people from scratch every six months when someone quits is not sustainable for their style of cafe.
I am looking for some resources or advice in bringing this up in a staff discussion. I’m also talking to other local baristas to get a better idea of what other businesses are paying because part of the issue is employees here really aren’t fully understanding how low their wage is for their amount of responsibilities. We do receive tips but the amount does not bring the wage up nearly to what it should be compared to other similar businesses in the area.
I would normally just quit but I thought I’d try this first