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

"An Austin-born juice chain founded in the early 2000s near Barton Springs that expanded to about 35 locations across Austin, Houston, and Dallas and employs nearly 600 people became the site of a high-profile worker stoppage in May 2021. The strike began May 14 at the central production kitchen in Austin when ten back-of-house employees walked out over long hours, pay, and management’s handling of alleged sexual harassment and racial discrimination; within a week roughly 80 workers had joined, forcing temporary closures at nine locations (including a South First shop and a Sylvan Thirty outpost in Dallas). Organizers deliberately remained self-directed—forming an internal employee committee and rejecting outside unions—and demanded higher wages for retail and production staff, worker approval of managers, minimum staffing levels, overtime pay, improved sanitation, no retaliation, and accountability for harassment and discrimination. Management responded quickly with modest concessions (a guaranteed $15/hour after tips for retail crews, up from $12.50, and later raises reported to $17 plus new HR policies), but talks collapsed over whether the problems were systemic and how to resolve specific allegations. Faced with ultimatums to return or be replaced, most strikers went back (about 65 of 80) while roughly 15 did not return or were replaced. The episode underscored both the ability of non‑union restaurant workers to win concrete gains and the limits and risks of self‑organized action when confronting entrenched cultural and accountability issues at a company that publicly markets an environmentally conscious, laid‑back image." - Steven Monacelli