Iowa City Bruegger's employees vote against establishing bagel chain's first union

Editor's Note: Union organizer Juniper Hollis recently married and now goes by Juniper Hollow. This story has been edited to reflect this change.

Employees at an Iowa City Bruegger's location voted against unionization on Tuesday, 9-2, ending an effort that would have established the first worker's union at the nationwide bagel franchise.

The vote was held at the 708 S. Riverside Drive Bruegger's location during the morning and afternoon on Tuesday. All employees who were on the payroll as of June 18 were eligible to vote in the election. Vote totals were not immediately available.

Bruegger's Workers United shared a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, about 45 minutes after voting concluded.

"I'm saddened to say that the hard workers of Bruegger's Bagels on Riverside in Iowa City voted against a union," the group wrote. "This is not the end of BWU. Bruegger's has made a mockery of justice with their relentless union-busting tactics, and we will not rest til they are held accountable."

Union organizer Juniper Hollow shared the following statement with the Press-Citizen:

"While it is true that the numbers were not there this time around, it's important to remember that in the beginning, we had a majority of the workers who signed a petition stating that they wanted a union," Hollow said. "It is because of the extreme union-busting tactics, such as closing down the Coralville Bruegger's location and handing out anti-union propaganda, that we lost this election.

We have filed (unfair labor practice) charges based around these illegal union-busting activities, and we will not rest until Bruegger's Bagels is held accountable for their actions."

The vote against unionization comes less than three weeks after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of workers and cleared the way for a vote. The board ruled that Bruegger's employees had "clearly" met the qualifications to attempt to become a "labor organization."

NLRB Regional Director Jennifer Hadsall, who delivered the ruling, shrugged off the bagel brand's arguments against establishing the labor organization, writing that employees seem to have multiple fronts on which they want to engage Bruegger's leadership, including "wages, workplace respect and paid time off."

The downtown Iowa City Bruegger's location was not part of these bargaining efforts.

From June: Iowa City Bruegger's Bagels employees get clearance to hold chain's first union vote

Just the beginning of 'dance' with company, union organizer says

Hollow said she was "bummed" by the result but had "optimism" for the future, emphasizing that the group's push for improved wages and working conditions is not over.

She hopes this effort has had a positive effect on workers at the Iowa City location and at locations across the fast food industry nationwide.

"I think that the union still has a place, if not at that Bruegger's then at other Bruegger's," Hollow said. "It's not a fight against the company. It's more like a dance with the company. And right now, we're trying to lead that dance."

Hollow said she hopes the unionization push also helped others realize that they can "stand up and say they want change."

As for the future of Bruegger's Workers United, she said she will continue to work on helping organize labor efforts within the industry and within the bagel corporation.

"I think it's really just going to come down to who can do it a little bit faster and a little bit more organized," Hollow said. "And you know, right now it's Bruegger's, but in the future, it's going to be us."

Picketing, labor board ruling preceded vote

A small group of employees gathered outside of the 708 S. Riverside Drive location on June 15, demanding recognition of "Bruegger's Workers United," the unionization effort with a similar moniker to the successful downtown Iowa City Starbucks unionization effort conducted last spring.

Hollow is a former Bruegger's employee at the recently closed Coralville location. Employees claimed that the closure, which came shortly after employees first publicly announced their intention to unionize, was in response to union action. Bruegger's previously declined the Press-Citizen's request for comment.

From June: Workers at Iowa City, Coralville Bruegger's Bagels sites picket over unionization attempt

The closure and other actions prompted the workers to petition the NLRB for unfair labor practices. Hadsall wrote in the board's June 21 ruling that the labor organization is in its beginning stages.

There is no official union constitution, according to the board's ruling, dues have not yet been collected, and there is no official meeting space. Hollow hosted the two meetings ahead of the board ruling at her apartment.

"While the petitioner is not yet fully fledged, the record establishes sufficient evidence to establish labor organization status under the Board’s liberal standards," Hadsall wrote.

Hollow said bagel corp made her 'villain' in build-up to vote

Hollow accused Bruegger's of engaging in "largely anti-union behaviors," distributing anti-union flyers and holding one-on-one meetings with employees to "discuss anti-union" sentiment in the 17 days between the NLRB ruling and the union vote

"The list is pretty extensive in terms of what they've done that was completely and utterly illegal," Hollow said.

The flyers allegedly asked workers what their union could promise. Hollow said she could not promise a $15-an-hour wage since she has not had the opportunity to talk and negotiate with the company.

"They do that stuff to make it look like our union is less legitimate than it actually is," Hollow said.

During the lead-up to the vote, Hollow said it was difficult to connect with employees and employees began to view her as "a villain." She attributes that to the alleged anti-union behaviors of managerial and corporate staff at the Iowa City Bruegger's location.

"It's kind of simple stuff that you wouldn't really expect a company to do, but they do it because they can, and they get away with it often enough," Hollow said. "But that's not going to happen this time."

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Bruegger's Iowa City employees vote against chain's first union