Little Dog Cafe Employees in Brunswick Say They Were Fired for Supporting Unionization Effort

Two former employees of the Little Dog coffee shop in Brunswick told the Portland Press Heraldthis week that they were fired for organizing a union. The workers filed a complaint Thursday with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the owner, Flaherty Retail of Maine, engaged in unfair labor practices by firing two employees who support the union. It is illegal for an employer to fire, lay-off or discipline employees for trying to unionize.

According to the Press Herald,  Autumn Flibotte, a former shift lead at Little Dog who uses the pronoun they, said Flaherty fired them on Wednesday, a couple of weeks after he asked if Flibotte had signed a union card. Flibotte said the owner Larry Flaherty — who also owns Metropolitan Coffee Houses in North Conway New Hampshire and Freeport Maine —  pressed them for details about who else was involved with organizing. Flibotte, 24, said they do not have a history of performance or attendance issues and had not been trying to influence anyone to support a union.

“It is perceived to be an act of union busting and retaliation in that he is trying to scare the other employees into either submission or assimilation to his vision and what he wants for the store,” Flibotte told the Press Herald. “A union is clearly not something that he is in favor of or has envisioned for his future of Little Dog.”

Little Dog employees notified Flaherty in September of their intent to form a union to have a stronger voice to address food safety issues and high staff turnover rates as well as a lack of proper training, communication, transparency and respect toward long-term employees. Little Dog workers are planning to join Workers United, which represents workers in the food and beverage industry. Mail-in ballots for their union election will be counted on Nov. 30 by the National Labor Relations Board.

Follow Little Dog Workers Unite on Instagram for more updates!