SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Another coffee shop in San Diego County has voted to unionize.
Better Buzz Coffee in Hillcrest voted 18 to 6 to unionize and join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 135 on Friday.
Employees say they started discussing unionizing in January. They said they wanted better pay, more consistent schedules, and benefits like health care and PTO.
Katy Jae Waldman, a barista, told ABC 10News how hard it is to make ends meet while also attending school.
"Such a struggle, especially at this time when rent and food [are] so expensive. It's just not something people should be having to worry about," Waldman said.
Currently, the baristas say they make minimum wage, $16.85 an hour, and Better Buzz doesn't qualify for the state's new fast food law, which bumped the minimum to $20, because the company has fewer than 60 locations nationwide.
Better Buzz in Hillcrest isn't the only coffee shop in the County to unionize. Three Starbucks locations have done the same thing in the last year.
"It's part of a larger push in general in the country of people wanting more of a voice at their work," said Ben Leighton, who's worked at the Hillcrest location for two years.
The coffee shop employees will now begin contract negotiations with Better Buzz.
ABC 10News reached out to Better Buzz for comment multiple times over the last several weeks, including Friday bef
