Bread isn’t the only thing rising at Madison Sourdough, a cafe and bakery on the city’s east side. Tensions between workers and owner Andrew Hutchison are as well, according to a report from The Capital Times.
Representatives from the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Local 1473, on behalf of Madison Sourdough employees, presented Hutchison with a letter and a request for union recognition last week, which Hutchinson declined.
Instead, Hutchinson requested a secret ballot election administered by the National Labor Relations Board, which is often seen as a more adversarial move on the part of ownership.
Madison Sourdough has 47 employees, but owners Andrew and Emma Hutchison and a few other executive-level employees are not eligible to vote on a union. That leaves about 40–42 workers who could vote on joining a union and there is reportedly a “super-majority” of employees who support the union.
