A crowd gathered Thursday outside of the Insomnia Cookies on the Boston University Charles River Campus to protest low wages, poor working conditions and union formation suppression at the business chain.
“We decided to go on strike for benefits, unionizing the store and higher pay wages,” said Insomnia Cookies ex-employee Jonathan Peña.
Student activists, union members and other supporters joined Peña at the 708 Commonwealth Ave. store location to voice complaints against the entire Insomnia Cookies organization. Members of BU’s Center for Gender, Sexuality and Activism and Student Labor Action Project were present at the rally.
Insomnia Cookies operates at more than 30 locations across the eastern U.S. and offers a delivery service of cookies, milk and other baked goods until 3 a.m.
The dissatisfaction that prompted the protest began with an employee strike at the Harvard Square location on Aug. 19, where workers voiced frustration over a lack of employee benefits and failure of the company to ensure adequate breaks, Peña said. Peña and three other striking workers were dismissed after the strike.
Members of the Industrial Workers of the World union, which has been involved with the Insomnia Cookies controversy since the protest at the Harvard location, also joined the crowd on Thursday.
Insomnia officials could not be reached for comment.
Peña, who worked at the Harvard Square Insomnia for only three days before striking, said the average turnover rate for employees is two to three weeks, likely due to low wages and poor working conditions.
The standard salary of a baker or cashier is $9 per hour, according to the Insomnia Cookies Website. Delivery drivers receive $5 per hour supplemented by tips received on deliveries.
“We just went on strike,” said Peña. “We felt as though we should just put our foot down and say, ‘you know what? We’re worth more than $9 an hour. We’re worth more than $5 an hour for bikers.’”
Peña said the store’s late hours require employees to work late into the night, often past 3:30 am, in a risky environment.
“I would have to make cash deposits at 3:30 in the morning, not knowing that if I walked out the door, I wouldn’t have been robbed at gunpoint,” he said. “… You have to deal with drunken people. You have to deal with people cursing at you for no reason because they’re drunk.”
Students for Labor Action Project President Talia Leonard said she wants Insomnia Cookies to recognize the right of workers to form unions and provide better pay for employees.
“They [employees] don’t make enough money, it’s not a living wage,” Leonard, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said. “… Minimum wage is supposed to be made up by tips, but if you’ve ever worked a delivery job, you know that drunk college kids don’t always tip, so they don’t necessarily make minimum wage.”
Students for Labor Action Project member Lindsey Cohen said students should be involved in facilitating discussion for employee rights at stores they frequent.
“It’s important that BU students know that the things that they receive come from something that’s not necessarily so good,” Cohen, a College of Communication sophomore, said. “… Just because something is good for you doesn’t mean that it’s good in general.”
IWW member Patrick O’Meria, a 38-year-old Cambridge resident, said IWW joined the strike to advocate for the rights of Insomnia workers.
“This is a direct action to get an immediate result, and that doesn’t happen unless other working class people are in solidarity with their fellow workers,” O’Meria said.
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Idiots……
This is ridiculous. You clearly have never worked a job in your life. This job is for COLLEGE STUDENTS. Not people who need to be paid a salary. What benefits do you think you deserve when you work PART TIME. You make $9? The people I employ make $7.85 an hour. Poor working conditions? Was it too hot in the kitchen–then STAY OUT. This is what is wrong with this generation of kids. You think you’re entitled to be making around $15 to make cookies. Try working outside in the 100+ degree heat, try standing on your feet for 12+ hours a day taking care of sick people. You people have no clue.
You lost me at “this generation”.
You pay people $7.85 an hour? Your a terrible boss. Whats your company called? The IWW may have to pay your workers a visit…
“This job is for college students not people who need to be paid a salary”
You’ve got to be kidding me…..so ignorant.
restaurant servers in mass. get paid 2.53/hr + tips. some of them are adults with children to support, etc. these spoiled clowns complaining are ridiculously embarrassing.
This job is for college students to make some extra $. You make cookies…you don’t need a union for something that children can do. If you don’t like the job then quit, no one forced you to work there. The sense of entitlement is ridiculous. YOU MAKE COOKIES
This strike sounds a little pretentious and over the top. I think if you’re a college student making well over the national minimum wage requirement you should be pretty satisfied. Naturally, when it comes to a job like this, you shouldn’t be making yourself too comfortable if you’re attending college and pursuing a degree in something completely different that typically over qualifies you to take orders and deliver cookies and pastry items. Maybe if young adults are looking to be paid and compensated better they search for a more professional job?
As somebody of this generation, these complaints do not reflect my view on the reality of minimum wage labor. Although minimum wage is too low, these aren’t the people that should be protesting, it should be the people who work full-time (or close to full-time) who truly need the benefits and aren’t getting them. A part-time college student should be able to deal with a temporary inconvenience in life, because I think it is essential to truly understand where the majority of people are coming from. Anyone who is willing to work full-time should be entitled to benefits. Although the job details do sound a bit sketchy and could be justified for a higher wage, it shouldn’t be argued on the basis on “we can’t live on this” because $9 alone (without the tips taken into account) is above the minimum wage.
ahh another stint by the self entitlement generation. the nerve of this D to strike after 3 days of work. someone shoot all these wanks
Dude I’ve worked for 7.25 an hour and working for 9 isn’t no different so before you guys criticize look from the inside out , before you judge and I’ve been a waiter before make 300 in 1 night havering to split with the washer and busser . That’s why I Hate scabs you guys don’t see past your own idea’s bloody wankers
It could be that these students are able to strike like this because they don’t have as much to lose as the full-time laborers (at Insomnia or anywhere) who could not afford to be fired for unionizing or striking. They are making a stand for labor in general and making a point about low-salary jobs for which employees need no real qualification. Do they not deserve benefits or fair wages? What about college town employees in general? Not everyone who works on a campus is a student, and these students have the drive, the means, and the passion to voice their opinions in a rather low-risk way.
I know three people who work for Insomnia Cookies, none of them are college students. They work in sketchy neighborhoods and have been robbed on the job. They also run deliveries on bicycle, which is inherently risky and they should be compensated for that.
Also, many college students are putting themselves through college. Some have children. All have years of debt after graduation. And regardless of what a person does when they aren’t at work, whether they work a second job, whether they raise a handful of kids, whether they’re full time students, or whether they smoke weed, watch South Park, and eat cheese curls, they deserve to be paid a fair amount for the work they do.