Spyhouse Recognition of Union
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Dear Christian Johnson and Spyhouse Coffee Management, We are the current and future legislators elected to represent the districts in which your coffee shops are located including North East, North Loop, Downtown, Whittier, Uptown, and St. Paul. Your customers and workers are our constituents and neighbors. After learning of their inspiring effort to organize, we are writing to ask you to voluntarily recognize your employees’ union under the UNITE HERE! Local 17 banner. In Minneapolis and St. Paul, the leisure and hospitality sector is a major employer representing about 10% of our workers according to DEED. These workers make less on average than in any other sector. Many lack healthcare coverage. Those that are covered fear losing their insurance due to sudden loss of work. Whether or not they have a steady job, workers are responsible for making their monthly rent or mortgage payments, and rents have continued to go up in spite of the crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, service industry workers have been subjected to unprecedented conditions at work. They do not have the option of working from home. They are on the frontlines. On top of their normal duties, they are now responsible for keeping coworkers and customers safe by adhering to strict COVID-19 policies and enforcing rules such as mask mandates. Still, there is no perfect system for preventing the spread of COVID-19, and every customer interaction comes with a chance of contracting a brutal, life-altering, and potentially lethal virus. We are asking more from them than we ever have before. These workers bear all of this to provide the community a little bit of normalcy. They are the ones keeping Spyhouse Coffee open. They are a huge part of the reason why folks choose to walk into Spyhouse Coffee instead of going to larger chains or drive-through establishments. Through their organizing efforts, your workers have publicly demonstrated their passion for social justice and constructive change as well as their passion for Spyhouse Coffee. They deserve the power of self-determination that a union provides. We support your workers and we ask you to voluntarily recognize their newly formed union. Sincerely, Omar Fateh - DFL Nominee for MN Senate in District 62 Hodan Hassan – MN Representative for District 62A Esther Agbaje – DFL Nominee for MN House of Representatives in District 59B Erin Murphy – DFL Nominee for MN Senate in District 64 D. Scott Dibble – MN Senator for District 61 Dave Pinto – MN Representative for District 64B Frank Hornstein – MN Representative for District 61A Raymond Dehn – MN Representative for District 59B Sydney Z. Jordan – MN Representative for District 60A Richard Cohen – MN Senator for District 64 Bobby Joe Champion – MN Senator for District 59 Kari Dziedzic – MN Senator for District 60 .