Workers at Stella’s Osborne location and Sherbrook locations have voted to unionize. (GOOGLE STREET VIEW)
WINNIPEG — Employees at two Stella’s Cafe & Bakery locations have voted to unionize.
The move to join UFCW Local 832 comes after recent allegations of sexual harassment and assault within the popular Winnipeg chain. Two top executives have since been released from the restaurant and an HR firm was brought in to recommend operational and policy changes.
Employees at the restaurant’s Osborne Street location voted to unionize Thursday, while co-workers at the Sherbrook Street location voted to join on Friday.
“The credit for this organizing drive goes entirely to the employees at Stella’s, and those who started the Not My Stellas campaign,” said Jeff Traeger, president of UFCW Local 832.
“It takes great courage to stand up to your employer and to call out inappropriate behaviour in the workplace, the strength these workers have shown is extraordinary. We’re proud to be the union that will represent them going forward, and we look forward to working with these members in order to address long-standing issues at Stella’s.”
The union will represent all 29 employees at the Osborne location, as well as 68 on Sherbrook, including servers, dishwashers, cooks, hosts and baristas.
