Ontario cafe lays off entire staff months after they unionized

Staff at an Ontario cafe are seeking help from the community after the cafe was shut down weeks before the holidays — but the timing of the closure is raising alarm bells for some.

We're officially in the thick of the holiday season: halfway through Hanukkah and under a week out from Christmas, but for the former staff of Hamilton's Democracy on Locke, things have been feeling less than merry.

The cafe, known for its extensive plant-based offerings, had been a stalwart in the community for the past decade, up until its sudden closure in the week of Dec. 15.

Prior to the closure, all but the cafe's General and Assistant General Manager (who were allegedly transferred to other businesses operated by the same owner) were informed they'd be laid off officially on Dec. 21 without severance, but the cafe closed, its social media and website deactivated, even earlier than that.

The ordeal is detailed in a letter signed by former Democracy on Locke staff, which appears on a GoFundMe fundraiser launched by a friend and family member to help cushion the blow for displaced staff.

"On December 5th, workers at Democracy found out that our café was unexpectedly closing in less than two weeks," the letter, included in the description of the fundraiser, reads.

"We were officially laid off on December 21st, four days before Christmas."

The letter also claims that the cafe's owner blamed the closure — which came even before the Dec. 21 layoff date — on the resignations of the location's GM and AGM. The former staff of Democracy on Locke call this suggestion "misleading," as the two staff members were allegedly transferred to the owners' other businesses.

Moreover, the timing of the closure is striking some as suspicious, as the news of the impending closure was brought to the staff team just two months after their first union contract was ratified.

"As a team, we worked hard to win a contract that protected our job security, our safety, and basic fairness. Even though many of us were unfairly targeted for our union work (we even filed a Labour Board complaint and were compensated for the union-busting we experienced), we kept fighting for fairness," the letter reads.

As of Dec. 19, the fundraiser has far exceeded its initial $6,000 goal, now tallying over $16,000, working out to roughly $1,300 in the pockets of each laid-off employee.

"We are angered that the year we spent building a safer, better workplace is being tossed down the drain. And we are terrified about unexpectedly losing our jobs so close to the holidays," the letter reads.

blogTO has reached out to Democracy on Locke to request comment on the closure and layoffs.

The owners of Democracy on Locke currently operate five other businesses in the Hamilton area.