‘Drive-Through for Justice’ Car Rally

This morning in Roseville, Caribou Coffee workers and supporters organized by Restaurant Opportunities Center United (ROC) Minnesota, staged a car rally in the drive-through lane. Workers called attention to unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, further demanding that the company take action to protect and properly compensate its employees. 

Workers are reporting that many Caribou Coffee stores around the Twin Cities metro area (where the company is headquartered) and across the country are failing to provide their workers’ gloves, sneeze guards and masks. Additionally, the company does not have a sick leave policy, and essential workers who report to stores each day are not receiving higher wages or hazard pay.   

In response to concerns raised during the rally a spokesperson for Caribou Coffee said in an emailed statement to Workday Minnesota that, 

“Since the onset of COVID-19, the safety and livelihood of our team members has been our number one priority.  We have closely followed and are implementing fact-based guidance and mandates from both national and local health authorities to protect our team members, and are also supporting our employees through many work support initiatives including a 10% pay increase in May. “

Filiberto Nolasco Gomez is a former union organizer and former editor of Minneapolis based Workday Minnesota, the first online labor news publication in the state. Filiberto focused on longform and investigative journalism. He has covered topics including prison labor, labor trafficking, and union fights in the Twin Cities.