As of September 26, Blue Bottle Coffee has officially vacated the W.C. Morse Building, located just across the street from Oakland Tech. The cafe was a beloved spot for many students, who are now left wondering why the closure took place.
Blue Bottle’s PR team has not responded to requests for a statement about the store’s closure. However, according to SF Gate, a Blue Bottle spokesperson said the closure was a part of a decision to close “a small number of cafes as a part of regular business review process.”
However, a former employee at the W.C. Morse Blue Bottle believes there is more to the story. This employee, who requested to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the company and will be referred to as Jane Doe, shared their perspective on the closure.
According to the Blue Bottle Independent Union (BBIU), the closure was in response to the unionization of the workers at the W.C. Morse Location. They argue that the cafe was successful and staffed by a dedicated team. “My take on it is it was like self-sabotage because it was unionizing,” said Jane Doe.
In June, employees at the W.C. Morse Blue Bottle and four other East Bay locations joined the BBIU in an effort to address concerns about dishonesty from upper management, lack of healthcare benefits, inconsistent staffing, and workplace harassment. Since 2017 Blue Bottle has been majority- owned by Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company. Workers claim to have been experiencing unfair labor practices since Blue Bottle was acquired by Nestlé.
On the day the East Bay locations announced their unionization, workers read letters aloud outside their cafes requesting the company’s recognition. At the W.C. Morse site, employee BB Young read the letter. The following morning, at 5:30 a.m., Young was fired. According to Jane Doe, the company claims to have fired Young for being three minutes late to work two weeks prior.
“It speaks volumes on what the real motive was for firing her,” Jane Doe stated, “She was a good employee that got treated really poorly.”
Workers viewed Young’s firing as an act of union busting and organized a protest outside the cafe. A few months later, Blue Bottle informed employees that the W.C. Morse location would close in three weeks. Many workers felt upper management had been dishonest, as they were given such short notice about the closure.
Before the closure at the W.C. Morse location, Oakland Tech students who had made Blue Bottle part of their daily routine wanted to thank the workers by giving them a handwritten farewell card. “We appreciated that,” said Jane Doe. “We were all a little teary-eyed.”