Braving single-digit temperatures and flanked by state and local officials, former employees of Adda Coffee and Tea House gathered in Sharpsburg today to ask their former boss to compensate them while they look for other work.
That’s after Adda’s owner closed all four Pittsburgh locations last week — less than a day after the workers announced their intent to unionize. The owner, Sukanta Nag, cited revenue loss for the closures.
Steven Stulock, who worked as a barista for Adda, doesn’t believe Nag. “It sure is curious that given Sukanta has told us that Adda has been operating at a loss since the day it opened, he was in no rush over those eight years to close even a single location until the very next day after we announced our organization to him.”
The workers are asking Nag for a month of severance pay, to pay out their unused paid time off and to allow them into the closed buildings to retrieve personal items.
Nag did not respond to WESA’s specific questions when asked for comment but did send a copy of his original statement. “Our final determination was solely and entirely based on the financial viability of the business,” he wrote.
In the statement Nag said he discussed the potential for closing several times in the last few years but that the business had become untenable. “The timing has been unfortunate but we could no longer continue losing money,” he said.
Chris Gratsch, the lead barista at Adda’s flagship Shadyside location, said there were a host of reasons the company’s 30 employees decided to unionize. They include claims that hours were cut without notice, schedules became inconsistent and workers were sometimes required to work more than eight hours without a break.
“Perhaps most egregious were the myriad terminations of employees who had their jobs simply given away to someone the owner liked,” Gratsch said. “One coworker complained about an infestation of flies, and it took less time to fire her than to fix the infestation.”
Rachel Saula, who prepared food at the Shadyside location, doesn’t believe that Nag closed the stores because they were losing money. “Why were we hiring a second general manager and additional staff if the business was failing?” she said.
Lance Huber, the director of the western division of UFCW Local 1776, said the union was looking into potential legal options. “We believe they violated labor laws. It's illegal to shut down for union activity,” Huber said.
Huber said he doesn’t know if a judge would have the authority to force the coffee shops to reopen, but he wants Nag to reconsider. Huber pointed to recent contracts with La Prima and Coffee Tree Roasters as examples of businesses that have been able to negotiate with unions without shutting down.
“We would like the company to reconsider and open and be a responsible member of the community,” Huber said.
Ryan Rattley, who worked as a barista at Adda’s in Garfield near where he lives, said the neighborhood is losing an important gathering place. People would recognize him at the grocery store, he said. He and another customer found comfort together after an active shooter situation last year in Garfield forced them to take cover in their homes.
Rattley will miss regular customers such as Derrick, a man who Rattley said was one of the first to learn his name. Recently Derrick asked Rattley for a word that begins with ‘s’ that is dangerous for people.
“Solitude,” Rattley replied.
After thinking about Rattley’s answer for a minute, Derrick came back to Ratley and told him, “I don’t just come in here for the pastries.”
“And that interaction has really been sitting with me because it encapsulates what Adda really was,” Rattley said. “It wasn’t just pastries. It wasn’t just coffee. It was community.”
