A small business is facing a small labour dispute.
Four former employees picketed in front of the Bean Fiend entrance Tuesday. The pickets believe they were unfairly fired from their jobs at the Algoma Street coffee shop after they refused to sign a code of conduct.
Joanne Belanger worked at the shop for nearly a year. She said the code of conduct was introduced Saturday and that they weren’t obligated to sign it. They went back to the shop’s owner, Brian Hamilton, to discuss the conditions of the shop’s policies and asked for revisions.
Some of the conditions included that employees couldn’t seek employment elsewhere without written consent of their employer and that hours would be given based on performance.
The policy also included dress codes and the shop’s position on smoking.
Belanger said Hamilton refused their revisions. She called the several of the policies unacceptable.
“I don’t want to speak for everyone but the way I’m feeling is that I’m a very hard worker, we’re all very hard workers,” she said.
“An hour after (Hamilton) fired us claiming that we quit and walked out, he posted on Facebook that he was looking for three full- or part-time positions. It was a ‘you’re fired if you do not sign this.’ We work hard for this business and then to be fired just like that is a slap in the face.”
Hamilton said he created the code of conduct in order to protect his employees by having a clear set of policies that everyone would follow. While he respected the demonstration outside his business, he said he has to reevaluate who would best represent the Bean Fiend brand moving forward.
He also stressed that he did not fire anyone.
“I’m kind of stunned,” he said.“It’s obviously a very hurtful situation. I was ready to edit it. We had an hour and a half staff meeting where we went through it line by line. Still after that no one would sign it. Things I guess just fell apart. I’m really sorry it happened like this.”
Hamilton said the reason behind offering shifts based on performance was because it became difficult to guarantee hours to all of the employees.
Hamilton, who first opened the Bean Fiend three years ago, said he fights for worker’s rights, supports the community and is the president of the Bay and Algoma Business Association.
“I woke up this morning and I was going to offer them all their jobs back,” he said. “I wrote this big long thing about co-operation and working together but they’ve got to understand that it is my business and I have the most invested in it.”
