Help Augie’s baristas and their families

On July 4th, 2020, all employees were notified all 5 Augie’s Coffee locations were indefinitely closed and close to 80 people were laid off, people with children, families, mortgages, rent, medical bills who lost their livelihoods. 

THE REAL STORY: 
Several weeks ago, Augie’s workers began to unionize our labor. After many, many years of refused pay raises in increasingly demanding conditions, we decided we wanted to have our voice taken seriously. The Amento family (owners of Augies) went silent. They refused meeting and communication, despite our efforts of good faith and transparency. Then, July 4th, every single employee was fired, barring a few management positions. This is not only egregious and immoral to lay off every employee during a pandemic, it’s also illegal. This has nothing to do with Covid-19. They’ve lied to your faces after all the support you’ve given the company. 

Our efforts to stay together as a family have been hard, but worth it. We will fight this for ourselves and our dignity, but also for YOU, the customers we’ve become so close with. We know you, your kids, your stories. We support each other. Please consider a donation of any amount to help the baristas you’ve come to depend on. Our job has always been about you, we love you, and we will fight this. 

100% of this will be split up to any Augie’s barista who needs financial help. In May 2018, when we moved from our beloved brick building, the owners of Augie’s started a GoFundMe campaign for the baristas and none of us saw a dime of it. This is a real way you can support and help us. Please share! Thank you. 

Augie’s Union Mutual Aid System “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need”. Overview: Augie's Union’s top priority is meeting the needs of its workers in a transparent and efficient manner. This document will act as a tool for governing the distribution of union funds to its members. Mutual Aid Committee The union funds will be overseen by a committee of 3 union members. Their duties will include: Management of each union members placement on the tier list Approval of emergency disbursements Creation and dissemination of a report every two weeks regarding how union funds are being used Maintaining and mending Union fund policy as needed. Tier system: The fund will be distributed along a system of tiers. Each union member will decide their own place on the tier system, with only tier one requiring approval from the Mutual Aid Committee. The tiers will be organized as follows: Tier 1- Members with families, dependents, or urgent material needs This tier indicates that a union member is tasked with caring for a child or loved one, or is facing some sort of pressing material need. “Material need” will be defined as access to food, shelter, transportation, utilities, healthcare or medicine, cellular service, internet, or any expenses related to the care of dependents. The Mutual Aid Committee will work closely with these members to make sure they are taken care of by helping catalog their needs and letting the community know how they can help. Placement in this tier will require approval from the Mutual Aid Committee. This tier could receive guaranteed weekly stipends of (TBD), or could forgo those payments and receive aid by requesting it as needed. Tier 2- Union members unable to access government aid (unemployment) All union members who are unable to access unemployment payments can be placed on this list and will be eligible for a weekly stipend of (TBD). These members will also receive support from the union in obtaining government help. Tier 3- Opted out This tier is for union members who do not require financial assistance. Placement on this tier will be completely voluntary. Emergency requests- At any time, any union member will be able to make an emergency request for financial assistance. This request will be brought to the Mutual Aid Committee and will be approved by them. Any amount above $1000 will require approval of a union vote. All emergency requests will require documentation of receipts to be kept by the union. Transparency- All mutual aid data, including the tier list, payments received, emergency requests, and tier change requests will be available to all union members every two weeks. We will operate on the basis that 100% trust in the union will be matched by 100% transparency.