Help Rabble-Rouser Employees Recover Lost Wages

To the Montpelier community and our valued customers from all over the country,

As many of you are aware, Rabble-Rouser has recently closed its doors. Persistent issues have long plagued the business and have come to a head over these last few months. The problems ranged from a lack of owner presence and leadership in the daily operations to repeatedly failing to pay staff on time or at all for time worked.

As the problems continued to mount, our paychecks continued to bounce, and unpaid invoices and financial obligations piled up; we organized. The staff took collective action through our union to protect our rights and demand that the business take responsibility for steering the business out of this situation. Rabble-Rouser employees eventually had no alternative but to strike.

We understand that the Rabble-Rouser space and RR staff team were an important part of the community, and we feel a deep sense of loss during this situation. We miss serving the community in creative ways despite the financial issues and mismanagement. We are grateful to our customers for their support, which made Rabble a community hub that we took great pride in serving.

We are asking for some more of your support as the staff still waits on the official procedures of the wage and hour violations filed to the Department of Labor. The staff that kept the day-to-day operations running are struggling right now as several pay periods of back wages have still not been compensated. Folks are struggling to pay rent, utilities, student loans or buy groceries while looking for other work options.

Rabble-Rouser owes more than $17,170 in back wages to its staff and that is why we are seeking your support. Rabble-Rouser staff worked hard every day to make the space LGBTQ+ and BIPOC safe, with a majority of staff being immigrant people of color, queer, neurodivergent, and disabled themselves. We are hoping the community that we served will support us during this hardship.

Should we end up eventually making our back wages in full, the team would like to donate the amount we’ve made through this crowdfunding to both Outright VT and the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network.

***This GoFundMe has been created by Rabble-Rouser employees and has no ties to any ownership (current or past). All money will be going directly to the employees affected by bounced paychecks. Thank you!