BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Workers at a local coffee shop walked out of the café on Tuesday and announced their efforts to unionize.

Workers at Remedy House Coffee, a store located on Rhode Island Street, announced their intention to unionize with Rochester Regional Joint Board of Workers United, the same union that Starbucks workers organized with.

The organization claims that in response to the efforts, management at the store fired a worker.

Over the past year, workers at several local Starbucks locations unionized and went on strike with the same Rochester organization.

The Remedy House workers staged a protest outside of the store on Tuesday afternoon after the store closed.

“It feels good to know that we are all in this together. We’ve been put through some very serious and unfair conditions lately. I think we’ve just decided that we’ve had enough and it feels really good to know that there are 9 people at least behind me right now,” said Meghan Sullivan, the former Remedy House worker.

Reached by phone, Remedy House’s Andrew Trautman told News 4: “It is of the utmost importance for us to talk to our employees and we are not here to stop them by any means. If they want to join a union then that is their prerogative.”

On Wednesday, Remedy House released a statement on Instagram, saying that the company made the decision to eliminate five positions days prior to having any knowledge of a unionization effort.

According to Remedy House, after notifying one of the employees, who’s position had been eliminated, they were provided with a letter of intention to unionize.

Remedy House said the staffing cuts were necessary in order for the café to remain financially viable.

We support our team’s efforts to unionize and have had serious discussions with the unionizing committee this afternoon. Some of the concerns raised by staff have already been addressed, while others will receive increased attention as unionization efforts progress.

We have always strived to create a fair, engaging, and comfortable work environment for our staff. We support their right to choose if unionization efforts are part of that equation and look forward to working with the organization committee as they form.”

Remedy House