Savoy Bookshop & Café employees unionize

EMPLOYEES at Savoy Bookshop & Cafe in Westerly have unionized with voluntary recognition from management. / COURTESY GOOGLE MAPS

WESTERLY – Employees at Savoy Bookshop & Café unionized Monday, with workers and ownership reaching a voluntary recognition agreement.

Employees at the 10 Canal St. store filed for union representation under the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 328 on Nov. 21, UFCW announced Monday morning on Twitter. That afternoon, the local stated that management had agreed to voluntarily recognize the union.

UFCW did not immediately respond to a request for further comment. The local said on Twitter that nine employees filed for representation. According to Savoy ownership, six employees have signed a union letter.

Fifteen employees work at the store, which opened as a partnership between between Mystic Books Inc. and the Royce Family Fund in spring 2016.

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In a statement, Savoy said that the business is “fortunate to have a team of booksellers and baristas who are passionate about what they do.

“This past week, the newly formed Savoy Workers Union received voluntary recognition from the store’s owner,” the statement continued. “It is our hope that in the weeks and months to come, we can work together to secure a future for both the company and the people who help make Savoy an integral part of the community here in Westerly.”

Savoy owner Annie Philbrick also owns Bank Square Books in Mystic and Title IX: A Bookstore in New London. These locations are not currently included in the union, UFCW Local 328 said on Twitter.

The Savoy employees join a wave of growing union organizing activity in Rhode Island and around the U.S., which has included significant organizing efforts by baristas.

UFCW Local 328 also represents employees at the Rhode Island coffee shop chain Seven Stars Bakery, where employees at all locations received voluntary union recognition in June.

Those employees remain in negotiations with the local café chain’s ownership, and have recently campaigned for higher wages. According to the union’s flyers, Seven Stars hourly base pay starts at $9, compared to various other local and national chains offering a starting pay of $12-$15 per hour.

Seven Stars has three locations in Providence, one in Cranston and one in East Providence.

Nationwide, hundreds of Starbucks Coffee Co. employees have also voted to unionize since summer 2021.

One Starbucks location in Rhode Island, located on Pace Boulevard in Warwick, filed for unionization, but after a months-long effort, this drive narrowly failed — though the vote came to a 9-9 tie, the union needed a majority vote to win recognition.

Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.

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