Texas JuiceLand Strikers Continue to Fight for Better Working Conditions - Eater Austin

"This past summer, as restaurant workers across America were revolting against working conditions and wages with work stoppages and mass resignations, a small group of back-of-house workers at upmarket Texas-based juice chain JuiceLand sparked a strike that brought the company to a standstill. After a long year of working through the pandemic, and several of dealing with unresponsive management, JuiceLand workers had enough in May 2021. The strike began on May 14 when, after a failed meeting with corporate leadership, 10 workers at the central production kitchen in Austin walked off the job. Within a week, some 80 workers had joined in the work stoppage, resulting in temporary closures across nine locations. Workers involved with the strike said they wanted the demonstration limited to JuiceLand workers; they chose not to partner with an external union because they wanted to remain independent of outside influence. Instead, they established an employee committee to represent workers on behalf of management, without the support of a union. Though several unions did reach out, the strikers ultimately chose to remain self-organized and did not seek to formally unionize amid the strike. While a months-long strike and social media actions did successfully win some concessions from JuiceLand management within the first few days — modest wage increases and the implementation of new human resources policies — it ultimately fell short of achieving its stated demands: resolving how to respond to specific allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Within a week, talks between strike representatives and JuiceLand management foundered. Workers were then given an ultimatum: Return to their jobs or be replaced. Most returned, and by the end of May, the last of the impacted locations reopened for business. As of this writing, 65 of the 80 striking workers are back on the job, and the remainder have been replaced. The mixed results of their effort demonstrate both the potential and limitations of what a non-union restaurant worker strike can accomplish, as well as the risks that non-union strikers face if negotiations with management don’t go so smoothly. JuiceLand started from humble origins in the early 2000s when founder and CEO Matt Shook opened the original location near Barton Springs. Since then, the chain has grown to 35 locations across Austin, Houston, and Dallas, employing nearly 600 staffers. The company has a reputation for touting its environmentally conscious practices and laid-back culture. “I think the perception is still that we’re nothing but a bunch of slacker hippies, and that’s great,” Shook told Austin Monthly in January 2021. But according to three JuiceLand workers and one former employee that agreed to speak with Eater Austin on the condition of anonymity, the vibe behind the scenes wasn’t as copacetic as advertised. Their names have been changed for clarity. Each claim has been independently corroborated by coworkers on background. Representatives for Juiceland declined to address specific incidents and allegations related to employees with Eater. Long hours, concerns around pay, a perceived gap between the stated values of the company and the day-to-day experiences of workers, and specific alleged incidents of harassment and discrimination contributed to growing dissatisfaction among some JuiceLand workers, mirroring broader industry trends." - Steven Monacelli