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Citing legal costs associated with a new unionization effort, the owner of small Philadelphia-based specialty coffee chain OCF Coffee House announced the closure of all three locations.
A group of workers from OCF Coffee House sent a letter to OCF Coffee House Owner Ori Feibush on June 3 asking for voluntary recognition of the union, according to a Philadelphia Enquirer report.
The effort was supported by Local 80, a local union branch of Philadelphia Workers United that has been active in organizing workers at coffee shops in the Philadelphia market over the past two years.
“We the workers of OCF have demanded recognition of our union from CEO Ori Feibush,” Local 80 wrote on OCF workers’ behalf on Instagram. “Today we stand strong together prepared to fight for our voice at work. Stay tuned as we prepare for next steps!!”
One week later, the OCF leadership announced the imminent closure of the 13-year-old coffee shop business, saying it had been operating at a loss.
“Throughout the years, our passion for creating a welcoming and warm space in our neighborhoods has driven us forward, despite operating at a loss,” an announcement attributed to the OCF Coffee House Team said. “We pushed forward because we understood the positive impact we were making in our communities and the importance to maintain a level of compensation and benefits (health, vision, dental, life, matching 401k) that each staff member deserved.”
According to public records, OCF Coffee House is part of a larger real estate brokerage and development company owned by Feibush called OCF Realty. The OCF coffee shops are in the Fairmont, Rittenhouse and Point Breeze neighborhoods.
Local 80, meanwhile, has led other Philly unionization pushes at Ultimo Coffee, ReAnimator Coffee, Elixr Coffee, Bluestone Lane (Philadelphia locations) and more, leading strikes, walkouts and other efforts.
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Nick Brown Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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