Seven Stars Bakery agrees to recognize union

Seven Stars Bakery has agreed to recognize a union representing employees at all of its five locations, the local café chain told Providence Business News on Monday. COURTESY RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOOD BANK

PROVIDENCE – Seven Stars Bakery has agreed to recognize a union representing employees at all five of its locations, the local café chain told Providence Business News on Monday.

“In response to the request made to us by an overwhelming majority of our café full and part time hourly employees, this morning we agreed to voluntarily recognize UFCW Local 328 as their exclusive representative,” Seven Stars wrote in a statement.

The union will represent employees across all of the café’s locations. Seven Stars has three locations in Providence, one in East Providence and one in Cranston.

Seven Stars Bakery is co-owned by Tracy and Bill Daugherty.

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UFCW announced earlier this month that employees at the bakery’s three Providence locations had filed a request for voluntary recognition, and on June 17, workers in East Providence joined them in this call.

In a letter to the Daughertys released on June 10, organizing employees wrote that they hoped to work with management to rebuild the café’s “high standards and rich culture while ensuring a more equitable and fair workplace for all.”

The recognition comes alongside a wave of unionizations at Starbucks Coffee locations around the country, with the workers at the Pace Avenue in Warwick location currently awaiting results on their union vote. As of June 15, the tally was 9-8 in favor of a union, but two contested ballots remain contested and under review by the National Labor Relations Board.

Seven Stars met with United Food and Commercial Workers International Local 328 and had several productive conversations prior to issuing the recognition, the café said in the statement.

“We look forward to working with the union to continue to make Seven Stars Bakery cafés a great place to work for great people who care about their customers and fellow employees,” the statement said.

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

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